Hear Me Roar
by GuiltyCalamity
Summary: Alice Fairfax was almost positive that her life had hit rock bottom. Three years after the tragedy that ruined her life, she will be attending Hogwarts for her first year. Looking for a fresh start, Alice's life changes when she meets three students in her year, one of whom she has seen before in her reoccurring nightmares. Follows the first year of the golden trio. OC insert.
1. Prologue

_Hello everyone!_

 _While I've been on this website for a while, I've never actually posted any of my own fics on here. Trying to ignore the fact that I'm unsure if my writing is actually good or not, I'm going to start things off with my Harry Potter fic. I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter!_

 _Of course, I do not own Harry Potter or anything written by J.K. Rowling. The only thing that is mine is my OC Alice and the rest of her family._

* * *

It was happening again. She knew it right away by the dimly lit street and by the chill in the air. Her vision was set on a small house, no different than the others around it except for the slightest variance in colour. A light could be seen from the upstairs window, providing some sort of comfort in her that the ominous night in which she stood did not.

And then she wasn't on the street anymore, but instead in the softly lit room that she had seen from the window. A woman stood near a crib, holding a baby close to her chest and smiling down at her child with the most loving smile imaginable. Her baby let out a little squeal, causing the mother to laugh softly at the cute bundle of joy in her arms.

A crash could be heard from downstairs, sending both her and the mother's attention towards the open door, which led into the rest of the house. Shouts began and a flash of green filled the entire house, watching as the mother ran towards the door and slammed the door shut. Screams emitted from her mouth as she still held on to her child, a man in black robes breaking down the door. The mother shielded her baby, looking down at the small bundle in her arms with a mixture of fear, determination, and sadness.

The most overpowering of the four was love.

Another flash of green filled the room, sending the mother to the ground, the baby still in her arms. The child sat with his mother, watching the black robed man approach him and lift up his wand yet again.

However, the third flash of green did not produce the same results. The robed man cried out, crumbling into dust.

And what remained was a small child with a lightning bolt on his forehead.

* * *

Alice sat up in her bed with a gasp, eyes wide and alert. Her linens were damp with sweat and chills shot through her system at an alarming rate. Green light flashed in the corners of her eyes and she felt sick to the stomach.

The white walls of her room seemed to bring her back to reality, a sigh escaping her lips as she ran a fair hand down the side of her face. She threw the sheets off of her body, spreading her limbs out on her mattress as she stared at the ceiling.

An elaborate patter of a gold lion looked back at her.

Alice felt her jaw clench, staring into the eyes of the beast. It would always be there, staring right back at her in an almost judging manner that made the girl want to rip out her hair in paranoia. It was like her ancestors were shaking their heads at her in disapproval.

She turned her attention to the open window, watching the glow of the morning sun leak into her room through the red curtains. The chirping of birds was enough to get Alice out of her bed and onto the windowsill, looking down as residents of the small village roamed the streets.

While Godric's Hollow was known for being one of the villages where wizards settled in after the ratification of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1689, it wasn't anything spectacular.

Not in Alice's eyes anyways.

With the center of it all being the village square, the Hollow only had a church, a post office, a pub, and a few retail shops in its entirety. The streets where the locals lived were lined with old-fashioned cottages that had a charming air about them. This was probably Alice's favorite aspect of the village; the Hollow held more secrets and history than what she could ever fathom.

Alice took in a large breath of morning air before turning her attention back into her room. She was surprised that her mother hadn't come to wake her up earlier, but she took all the quiet she could get.

Alice wondered if they were even home.

Rubbing her eyes softly, the eight-year old slowly walked towards her closet, throwing on whatever she could find that was comfortable to wear. Alice had continued to sweat after her nightmare, knowing the day would only bring more heat. A white skirt and a simple red shirt seemed appropriate in her eyes, slipping on her flats as she made her way out of the bedroom.

As she walked down the oak-floored hallways of the second floor, Alice could hear voices muttering in the dining room from the first floor. It was rare to hear anyone at all in the house besides herself and her brother; their parents were never home anymore because of their jobs.

"I cannot believe that we're coming up to yet another anniversary of their death. It seems like it had just happened yesterday."

Alice stopped in her efforts of tying up her messy hair at the words that echoed from the floor below. To her knowledge, she couldn't remember anyone dying in recent years that would gather the attention of her family. There was that tragedy that happened when Alice had been barely two-years old, but nobody ever talked about it to her. In fact, she knew nothing about the event whatsoever.

"Word is that the young boy is living with his mother's muggle sister. If I remember correctly, she wasn't that nice of a broad."

The second voice caused Alice's eyes to widen slightly. Her father was never home, much less than that of her mother. Even the idea of seeing him sat somewhat weird in her stomach. It had been five months after all.

"I just hope the boy is okay. He is going to have a difficult-" Her mother ceased talking as Alice reached the bottom of the stairs with a loud creak. The slender woman almost jumped out of her skin. "Oh, Alice! You scared the bloody hell out of me!"

"Sorry, mum." Her daughter mumbled, stifling a yawn as she moved further into the kitchen.

"Did you not sleep well again, sweetheart?" Her father asked, which surprised Alice considering she had never told him of her troubled sleeping. She supposed her mother had spilled the beans to him.

"Yeah," Alice said, taking her spot at the kitchen counter as her mother placed her breakfast in front of her. "Thank you."

"Still having that nightmare?" Her mother asked, to which Alice nodded as she filled her mouth with toast.

A beat of silence followed her question, which Alice wouldn't have minded if she hadn't caught the distressed look on both the faces of her mother and father. The eight-year old sighed, looking back down at her breakfast and continued to fill her stomach to her hearts content.

While the silence lasted for a few minutes, it was broken when her eleven-year old brother threw open the front door and skidded into the kitchen.

"Good lord, could you have at least taken off your shoes, Martin?" Her mother sighed as she watched the boy throw some papers onto the table in front of Alice and her father.

"Violet, it's alright." Her father told the woman, grabbing the local paper from the pile of mail that Martin had brought.

"What are you now? Our new owl?" Alice asked her brother, who answered by ruffling her hair. It was a usual occurrence for him to mess with her hair, but she wasn't having any of it today. She responded by swatting his hand away with her own, only for her brother to rip his hand out of her reach.

"She just burned me again!" Martin whined, blowing cool air onto the back of his hand. Alice furrowed her eyebrows in surprise.

"What? No I didn't!" Alice retorted, dropping her cutlery back onto her plate.

"What does this look like then, you twit?" Her brother answered, holding his hand up to reveal freshly burnt skin on the back of his hand. Her eyes widened at the burn that she had caused. Yet again.

"Enough, its too early in the morning for this," their mother groaned, turning the stove off to face her children. "Alice, leave your brother alone and Martin, don't encourage her."

The two of them mumbled a half-hearted reply. Alice stood up from her seat and placed her dishes in the sink. It frustrated her to no end at what was happening to her magic as of recently. She'd burned her brother three times already and almost set her room on fire when she had been in a rotten mood. It was scaring her, but it was angering her more.

Yet she had to agree with her mother; she didn't have enough energy to function properly today, let alone argue with her brother.

"I'm going for a walk," Alice stated, walking to the front door before looking over her shoulder at her parents. "Do you two need anything?"

"No, love. Thank you though."

The young girl nodded as she opened the door and walked out of the house onto the brick road of her street. She figured she would go visit the old man at the bookstore on the other side of the village. He was always kind to her, not to say that the other residents were in any way rude. The man simply treated her like a human being, rather than a prized possession.

The greetings came one after another as she walked down the fairly busy streets and she returned their hellos with a soft smile. Everyone knew who her family was; the entire Wizarding World knew the Fairfax family name.

And having everyone know you just because of your last name and where you came from wasn't how Alice wanted to leave her mark on the world.

As she walked, she counted the bricks in the road, hearing children her age crying out in delight at some street vender who was probably showing them new tricks again.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a light flying in her direction at a rather fast speed. She managed to catch it just before it could hit her in the side of the head, watching as the little ball of light crackled in her hand, similar to that of a small firework in her palm. Alice stared at it for a moment, spinning it around to inspect it.

 _Interesting little thing, isn't it?_

Alice smiled down as her thoughts analyzed the small ball of magic. She eventually looked up, spotting the vender and several other children staring back at her in surprise.

"I wouldn't hold on to that too much longer, little lady." The vender said, worry dripping off of his words as he stared back at Alice.

"Is it going to explode or something?" She asked, raising her eyebrows as she stared down at the mini sparkler in her hand.

"No, it just tends to get very…hot when you hold it for too long."

Alice looked back up at the vender with mild confusion.

"Like hacky sack with consequences, how wonderful," she mumbled before tossing the little thing back to the vender. "I think there's something wrong with your contraption. It didn't feel hot to me whatsoever."

Bowing her head slightly as a sign of departure, Alice began walking once again towards her favorite spot in the whole village.

A few more greetings were sent her way and the young Fairfax attempted to be as polite as possible when she replied, only to realize that she probably looked like she was grimacing rather than smiling.

Luckily, she reached her store faster than what she had been expecting, but was nonetheless pleasantly surprised about it. She'd almost walked right by, too deep in thought to realize where she was.

" _Hugo's Emporium of Literature_ ," Alice mumbled as she stared at the sign, a small chuckle leaving her lips. "He ought to fix his sign."

When Alice opened the front door, hearing the small ring go off to announce her presence, the first thing that calmed her was the smell. The antique store smelled of old parchment and ink, a cold draft welcoming her like an old friend. The shelves that made up the walls and rows of the shop held thousands of dilapidated books, and she could almost sense the wisdom coming from the aged tomes. Books upon books were stacked off to the sides, either to be re-inked or put away. Many people didn't like the timeworn shop, considering what a mess everything appeared to be in, but Alice knew Hugo.

Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be.

"What an honour it is to be blessed with your presence once again, Miss Fairfax." A gruff voice graced Alice's ears, turning around to spot the old man sitting on what appeared to be a throne of books.

Alice frowned at the greeting she had been given.

"I was going to inform you that one of the letters on your sign was out, but I'm really not to sure if you deserve to know which one." She answered, watching as his face fell.

"Is it the bloody 'O' again?"

"I'm not telling you anything, Mr. Hug."

The old shopkeeper groaned and Alice let out a laugh at his reaction. She knew the man wouldn't be leaving the company of his books any time soon to go look at the sign, so she took her victory in peace for the time being.

The man ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair, fatigue evident on his facial features. His eyes were aged and his face world weary, which was when Alice realized she didn't know much about the man's past. He wore a dusty dress shirt, simple pants and worn out shoes that gave the man more character than he probably wanted to believe.

While the majority of his appearance was well worn, his vivacious smile and cunning eyes were Alice's favorites.

"Have you finished reading _Self-Defensive Spellwork_ yet?" Hugo asked after a moment, finally meeting Alice's gaze.

"I finished it last month." She replied, casually stepping through the piles of books that were strewn around the store.

"What about the one by Zygmunt Budge? What was that damn book called…?" The man muttered, scratching at his hairline.

" _Book of Potions?_ I frolicked around with it a bit." Alice stated, side stepping in order avoid getting knocked over by a pile of hovering books that appeared to be moving towards the back of the store.

" _Omens, Oracles and the Goat_?"

"A well written Bathilda book."

" _The Monster Book of Monsters?_ "

"That book was a handful. Literally."

"What about _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland_?"

Alice stopped moving in the midst of pulling out an old bound book on herbology at the mention of dragons. It wasn't like she knew nothing about dragons at all, but she hadn't necessarily done her readings on them before either. There were so many types of dragons that it amazed her at how well hidden the Ministry had kept them hidden.

With her recent lose of control on particular forms of magic, mostly that of fire, Alice was definitely intrigued.

"Where would I find that one, Hugo?" She called to the man, putting the herbology book back in its place.

"Last bookshelf towards the right corner of the shop." The man answered, making Alice feel mildly embarrassed.

 _Of course it was in the magical creatures section, where else would it be?_

The young girl managed to make her way to the back without stepping on any spines or falling into any stacks of novels, much to her relief. Thankfully, the book wasn't hard to find. Its thick gold spine stuck out amongst its neighbours, immediately grabbing her attention. Pulling the text out caused a rather large puff of dust to erupt from the shelf, making her cough rather harshly. When looking down at its cover, Alice spotted a silver symbol of a dragon on its front.

"How much?" She shouted from the back of the store.

"No charge." He called back, causing the young girl to sigh.

"You know I can't just take it-"

"My gift to you, little one. You will get more use out of it than me."

Alice slowly made her way to the front of the store, once again managing to avoid falling over onto anything. With the book in her hands, she approached Hugo's front table and the old man looked up at her curiously.

"I also pulled aside some books that the professors at Hogwarts use in their teachings," the old man stated, nodding his head towards a pile of books off to their left. " _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, The Dream Oracle, Ingredient Encyclopedia, A History of Magic, Magical Draughts and Potions, Spellman's Syllabary,_ and _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration._ "

The young girl stared at the pile in awe, shocked that her had pulled out all those books just for her. She still had roughly three years until she would be attending the school of witchcraft and wizardry, but she always liked getting ahead while she could.

And her old friend knew her well.

"Hugo, which house were you sorted into?" Alice asked, apparently startling the man with the question, for his eyes widened and his eyebrows shot towards his hairline. After his initial shock, a large smile stretched over his facial features.

"What house would you have me sorted into?"

"Slytherin, hands down."

"But that's the house for bad witches and wizards."

"It is not, old man! It is for the most ambitious, cunning and resourceful wizards in the school and you fit all of these traits."

Hugo seemed mildly surprised but his grin only widened at her words.

"Well, you've chosen my correct house," he stated, putting the book that previously resided in his hands down beside him. "But the real question is, which house will you belong to?"

Alice laughed dryly, shaking her head at the older man in front of her.

"You know exactly which house I'm going to be sorted into," she sighed, putting her forearms on top of the front table. "Everyone knows which house I belong to."

"I'm not so sure," Hugo said, getting up off of his paper throne and walking towards the young girl. "You have the dedication and loyalty of a Hufflepuff, the intelligence and wit of a Ravenclaw, and the ambition and cunning of a Slytherin."

"I've had a gold lion over my head since the day I was born," Alice retorted, giving the old man a soft smile. "I must stick to my roots, I suppose."

Hugo returned her soft yet sad smile. A part of her felt bad about not experiencing happiness at the thought of being a Gryffindor. She was sure it would be wonderful, just not the gossip and talk that came with it.

"All in due time," Hugo said, patting her head softly, turning his attention to the pile of books that he had put out for his young friend. "I do not expect you to take all of these things with you today. I will keep them here until you are ready to bring them home."

"Thank you, sir," Alice smiled tiredly, tapping her fingers together in a nervous manner. "Um, would it be okay if I spend today reading in here? Or I could help you clean the shelves. I just…really don't want to go home yet."

"Of course, little one. Take your time."

And she did, with an unwavering smile on her face.

* * *

She stayed longer than she had wanted to, knowing her parents would be furious at her for staying out so long. It was roughly eight o'clock when she left the bookstore, Hugo wishing her a safe walk home. Her fingers clutched the gold bound book close to her chest as she walked, watching as one by one the light posts turned on. She frowned slightly and stopped to look at one of the dimly lit streetlights. Something about it seemed off and vaguely familiar, but not in a good way. Picking up her pace as she began walking once more, Alice was now ready to go home.

Right away.

She got home without a scratch on her, only to see nobody in the kitchen or dinning area. The family had probably had dinner without her, and she didn't blame them. Her brother was probably in his room listening to music or doing something else absurd, while her parents were most likely in their room talking.

Well, she'd been right about the talking, except they were in her room rather than their own.

"He needs to meet them, Colin. He's their godfather!" Her mother's hushed voice said, her words firm.

"I know, but he does not have full control over his shifting abilities yet! What if something happened and he ended up hurting them?" Her father replied in an equally quiet but strong voice.

"He's had a few accidents, haven't we all? He deserves to meet them and vice versa! How unfair would it be for us to parish and have them be left with a man they barely know?"

"We will not parish!"

"The risk comes with our job, Colin. It's going to happen, we just don't know when."

Alice finally had enough of the quarrel between her parents, knocking on the open door to inform them of her presence. Both heads of her parents snapped in the direction of the sound, her father looking rather worried at the fact that she had appeared, while her mother looked furious.

"Alice Roselyn Fairfax, where on earth have you been all day?!" Her mother yelled, most likely upset that her daughter had snuck up on her once again. "And how long have you been standing there?!"

"I was at Hugo's reading," she explained, staring at her mother. "I've been here since the term 'godfather' was used."

"We were worried about you, sweetheart," her father said, running a hand down his tired face. "But I'm glad you're alright."

"No, this is not okay. You need to start telling us where you go, young lady! The two of us thought the worst!" Her mother yelled at her, causing Alice to furrow her eyebrows.

"Where could I have possibly gone?!" Alice replied, her own voice rising as she stared at her parents in disbelief. "Where do I spend all my time, huh? You wouldn't know, because neither of you are ever around! How am I supposed to tell you where I go when the both of you aren't here?"

"We're working to save lives and keep food on the table, young lady!" Her mother replied angrily.

"There's nothing wrong with being Aurors, you're missing my point!" She stated, her facial features scrunching up in annoyance. "What am I supposed to do when the two of you are gone? Just sit around here all day?"

"You're eight, Alice! What could you possibly be doing out of the house?"

"Maybe not sit around here in my room worrying that the two of you might not come home?"

Both her mother and father's faces fell at her final statement, a new reality crashing down on them.

"I'm going out into the world every day in order to build more courage and avoid the worry and fear that builds up in my chest at the thought of losing the both of you," Alice mumbled, her eyebrows knit together in the attempt of keeping her voice from wavering. "Whenever I see the two of you, I'm reminded of the constant expectation of living up to our bloodline. Everything in this house reminds me of that expectation, and I'm trying to live up to it. I really am."

The tears were rolling down her cheeks now. She didn't like crying in front of others, it bothered her to no end. Quickly lifting up her hands and wiping away her tears, Alice continued while she still had their attention.

"I'm tired of being a Gryffindor and I'm not even at Hogwarts yet!" Alice cried, unable to stop her tears once again.

Silence filled her bedroom, only the gentle cries and sniffles coming from the young girl. She felt awful, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep her pain away. The look on her parent's faces only made her pain worse. She knew that she'd hurt them, more than she'd ever imagined.

Her mother was the first to move, slowly moving towards either the door or Alice. Which one, she didn't know, but she concluded both as her mother planted a soft kiss on her head and left the room. Her father stayed a few minutes longer, looking down at the ground. Alice was worried, since she was always able to read his expressions perfectly, but now she didn't see anything legible on his face.

He got up as well, pulling his daughter in for a soft hug before leaving the room to go after his wife.

Alice had ruined everything and she knew it well.

She stayed standing in the same spot for at least five minutes, unable to move as she processed what had happened. Eventually, she moved to shut her door and crawled into bed, her clothes and shoes still on her person. She moped in silence, staring at a spot on her wall. The thought of closing her eyes and going to sleep seemed terrifying to her right now, not wanting to dream that horrible nightmare once again.

She was stuck with her unhappy thoughts.

Alice's eyes eventually flickered towards the drawer of her side table, a thought making itself known in her tired mind. She waved her hand softly, causing the drawer to slowly open. Leaning forward and sticking her hand into the drawer to feel around its contents, her hand made contact with what she had been looking for.

She grabbed the thin book from the top of the drawer, automatically feeling calmer as she read over the letters and observed the images on the front of the book. The book in her hands had been the first piece of literature she had ever read, and she knew every word of every line of every page of every section of the book. It had been a while, however, since she had picked it up.

" _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_? When will you ever put that book down?"

Alice peered up from the book and looked tiredly over at her brother, who stood in the doorway of her room. She hadn't heard him come in whatsoever, and under normal circumstances she would be mad that he hadn't knocked.

She didn't really care about anything at the moment though.

"Also, wandless magic isn't something you should know at the age of eight."

"I shouldn't be burning people without control but here we are, Martin."

Her brother stared at her, a mixture of pity and sadness filling his eyes. Alice's own tired eyes stared right back, wondering what he wanted from her. He always wanted something, but she wondered if today was different.

"I heard the argument."

Yeah, today was different.

"I've messed up everything." Alice replied, her eyes watering once again.

"No you haven't. You told them how you felt and that needed to be done," Martin stated, closing the door behind him as he came to sit on the side of her bed. "It was very brave of you."

Alice blinked a few times, realizing that her annoying, sneaky, infuriating brother was actually kind and considerate when he needed to be. She thought back to the times whenever they fought when they had been younger, much younger than they were now. He would pick on her, tease her to no end, but he was also the type of brother to sneak extra food onto her plate, read to her when she wasn't feeling well, and give her his sweater when she was cold.

What upset her was that she was only realizing this now.

"Thank you for being my brother." She mumbled, her tired eyes struggling to stay open.

Martin didn't answer, but before she drifted off, she swore that she saw him smile for the first time in months.

* * *

There were a few things that alarmed Alice when she woke up.

First off, it was uncharacteristically bright in her room.

Second, she smelt smoke.

And third, she heard yelling.

Alice sat up in bed and saw flames all around her. Her drapes had fallen and were practically ash, all the furniture was on fire, including her own bed, and the worst part was that she was positive that the fire wasn't only happening in her room.

She'd screamed when she had seen her sheets on fire, throwing them off of her body. It didn't burn, nor did it hurt, but she didn't have any time to think about how she had no burns on her skin or no sense of its heat.

Alice scrambled out of bed and ran towards her door, turning the glowing red handle and throwing open her door.

The fire was everywhere.

It shot along the banister, along the walls, burning every picture frame and shelf it could. The floor was covered in flames, as if someone had covered the surface with oil beforehand, but what scared her even more was that the way the fire moved wasn't natural. It had its path laid out for it and it burned with a purpose to destroy everything in its way.

Alice had barely heard the screaming coming from a few rooms away over the crackling of burning wood. She could hear the wooden beams in the structure of their house crackling as well, knowing that the house would collapse in a matter of minutes.

Running through the fire, the young girl barely missed getting crushed under a wooden pillar as it was broken and destroyed by the fire. She found the room where the screaming had originally came from, but she couldn't hear anything anymore. It was her brother's room that she had stopped in front of, griping the handle tight and throwing open the burning door.

At first, Alice saw nothing but fire. The Quidditch memorabilia her brother had collected remained burning on the floor or still on the walls. In fact, every wall in the room was engulfed in flames. She could barely make out the color of the room anymore. Her eyes searched the room for any glimpse of her family.

And her blood ran cold when she finally did.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Alice wailed, running towards them.

Their bodies weren't moving as they lay on the burning floor, their clothes destroyed by the fire and their skin blistering from the heat. She could barely make out their faces when she got closer, for they were no longer recognizable. Her tears distorted her vision as she stumbled towards the window in order to open it and call for help. While she couldn't see much through her blurred vision, Alice saw one thing for sure.

Figures dressed in black cloaks striding quietly away from their burning house.

Alice was starting to have a hard time seeing anything, the numbness making itself known all over her body. She looked down to see that her clothing had caught fire, but she didn't care. It didn't hurt her, so why would she care?

She kneeled beside the bodies of her family and began to cry feverously, her anger building up to the point where she was sure she would explode.

"You cannot leave me alone! I'm only a child, how am I supposed to survive without someone looking after me!" Alice screamed at the bodies. "I need all three of you, you're all I have! Please, don't leave me alone. Oh Merlin, please don't leave me alone!"

The young girl had lost it, sobs shaking her core so badly that she was sure she felt a rib give out and snap. She couldn't breathe, either from the smoke or because of her sobs, she didn't know. She didn't care. She was alone and she couldn't do anything to stop the scene in front of her.

"I'm so sorry," Alice bawled, leaning over the bodies. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, oh no, please. No, no, no, no, no…"

The girl was a blabbering fool, her fear and pain swallowing her whole as she lay with what was left of her family. Sorrow was her friend and despair was her state of mind. She couldn't remember her name, where she was, who she was, what she was, when it was, or anything at all.

All she knew was that she would rather burn with her family in her home than go on living whatever life was set out for her.

She only realized she wasn't burning when the roof above them collapsed, taking away the consciousness Alice had longed to lose since the day had began.

* * *

 _A bit of a depressing opening chapter/prologue, but I hope you all enjoyed!_

 _Feedback is always welcome :)_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	2. What Remains

_Hello again!_

 _Here is the first chapter. I hope the prologue was okay and that it peaked some people's interests! Happy reading everyone 3_

 _I do not own Harry Potter. Only the OC's are mine._

* * *

"This is absolutely absurd!"

"Please, if you'd only-"

"How could you think an eight year old girl set their house on fire and killed her own family?! What kind of sick twisted mindset-"

"Sir, please-"

"Where in the world do you think you're taking her?"

"To the town jail, where she will reside until we figure out what to do with her."

"She needs medical attention! Her burns-"

"Mr. Hugo, she has no burns."

Alice felt a pain in her chest and a burning sensation down her esophagus. Her arm felt like it had been broken in several places and her foot felt like it wasn't facing the right direction. The ringing in her ears wouldn't stop and her head hurt so badly that she thought her brain would explode.

Her entire being was pain.

Someone was carrying her and Alice could faintly hear the crackling of burning logs before she lost consciousness once again.

* * *

Cold.

She felt cold. So cold that she sensed as though her insides had been frozen and that her bones were made of ice. Alice was more than certain that she was dead, resting in between the world of the dead and the living. She wanted nothing more in that moment to be warm, to be thrown into boiling water, or to be set on fire. It was the realization of pain that made her understand that she was in fact, not dead at all.

"It's already made headlines on the Daily Prophet." A feminine voice whispered, echoing from somewhere close by.

"Do you know what they're calling her now? The Girl of Embers." Another voice murmured, much deeper and softer than the first one.

"This whole situation is preposterous. Are people actually believing that the girl was responsible?"

"It's hard to tell, the reaction is quite mixed."

"I didn't want the descendant of Gryffindor to be introduced to the world like this."

"Everyone already knows the Fairfax name, it's not like she was invisible to everyone."

"I know, but I wanted her to have a good start into the Wizarding World. Not to be the result of a tragedy or of her bloodline."

The statement struck a cord in Alice, bringing her little by little back to reality. She felt her eyelids flutter softly before they slowly but surely managed to open.

The burning sensation in her eyes was the first thing she felt, seeing a grey brick wall before her followed quickly after. Water was dripping down the cracks in the wall, slowly making a pool of water near the ground, which she was evidently lying in. Alice spotted metal bars out of the corner of her eye that ran from the low ceiling all the way to the cold ground.

"Where am I?" She mumbled, her voice coming out as a whisper due to her sore and painful throat.

"The Hollow Jail." The deeper voice answered, echoing from behind her.

Alice wasn't exactly sure if the voices were coming from inside her head or from actual people. The young girl slowly managed to move one limb at a time, attempting to turn over to see whether or not she had actually lost her mind.

She turned onto her other side, her head falling back onto the cold ground as she relaxed her aching body. Her hair was stuck to her forehead and neck, either by cold sweat or from the puddle she was lying in. Her teeth were chattering quite badly now.

Her eyes began roaming the area for any other living being and her eyes fell onto two adults sitting side by side outside of her cell.

One of them was a rather severe-looking woman dressed in emerald green robes and a pointed hat that sat to the side of her head. A prim expression resided on her facial features, but her eyes appeared to have a glimmer of kindness in them while her outward appearance would tell others something entirely different.

The other was a man with a rather pale face with premature lines with short light brown hair. Scars cut across his face and he seemed rather tall as well, taller than his female companion that sat beside him. The robes he wore appeared quite shabby that had been darned in several places. The man looked extremely tired.

Alice stared at them for a moment, blinking to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Please tell me you're real." She muttered, still looking at the two individuals.

"Yes, dear. We're quite real." The woman replied, smiling sympathetically at Alice, which caught the young girl off guard.

She blinked hard and blinked again, still seeing both of them sitting in front of her. Slowly, Alice attempted to sit up straight, feeling sore around her chest and ribs, along with her ankle.

"No need to be hasty, little one," the man said, standing up from his spot on the bench and coming closer to the bars of the cell. He dug into his pocket and pulled out something, holding something small and brown out to her. "Chocolate. It'll make you feel better."

Alice raised her eyebrows at the man, but slowly reached out and took the piece of candy from the man, placing it in her mouth. Chewing it carefully, the creamy taste and texture seemed to calm her down more than she expected.

"Thank you." She mumbled, meeting the man's eyes.

The scruffy man gave her a quick smile, kneeling down in front of Alice as he continued to watch her carefully. The young girl would have kept eye contact with the strange man if it weren't for the other woman, who slowly approached her as well.

"Miss Fairfax, do you remember anything from the last twenty-four hours?" The older woman asked, peering down at Alice.

The young girl let her eyes fall from the older woman to the floor, staring into the solid surface in the hopes of collecting her bearings. She remembered the smoke filling her lungs, the burning of wood, the screams of her family, the house collapsing on her.

Boy, did she remember everything.

Alice couldn't get her mouth to open, her wide eyes watering as they continued to stare at the floor. All she could muster up for her two visitors was a quick nod of the head.

"Do you know how the fire started?" The man asked her, much softer than the woman had.

"I-I'm not sure," she managed to say, a few tears dripping down her face as her words burned her throat slightly. "I remember seeing dark figures walking away from the house but-"

She paused mid sentence, furrowing her eyebrows as a thought sprung into her head. What if she hadn't seen those figures and it had just been her imagination? It could have been the smoke getting to her head, the panic filling her system, the loss of her family, any of it. Alice had only seen it for a split second, but she had a feeling that it hadn't been all in her head.

"Many are under the impression that it was you who started the fire."

Alice pulled her eyes away from the floor and gave the man a bewildered look, her eyebrows furrowing while she watched the man's expression with wild eyes. An enormous wave of rage washed over Alice, narrowing her eyes into slits as she looked between the two of them.

As she opened her mouth to show her anger at the ridiculous notion, Alice froze when she smelt burning. For a moment, she thought it was left over from the night before, but when she saw smoke circling her, the young girl quickly looked down to see a peculiar sight.

The grey coble floor beneath her had charred black as though someone had light a bonfire where she rested. The searing and hissing of the stone reached her ears and Alice watched as veins of embers began to glow, snaking out from under her.

Alice sent her two visitors a look mixed between of panic and revelation, only for them to look back at her with worried eyes.

"Miss Fairfax, you must calm down." The woman stated calmly, her eyes fixed on Alice rather than the burning floor beneath her.

The young girl slowly but surely steadied her breathing, watching as the embers and the smoke gradually vanished from sight. Letting out a shaky breath of relief, Alice turned her attention back to the adults in front of her.

"How long has these little incidents been happening for?" The man asked her, peering into the young girl's face.

"They started within the last year." Alice stated, placing her hand along the blackened ground.

"Could it be possible that you were the one who-"

"No."

The man stared at the young girl; surprised that she had answered his question with more determination and certainty than he was expecting. Alice's response made him chuckle slightly.

"You're as tenacious as your mother, aren't you?" The man said, a smile still on his face.

The mention of her mother leaving the man's lips with such a fond tone surprised Alice, almost as if he had known her mother well.

"Who are you?" Alice asked, looking between the two adults.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Head of Gryffindor House," the woman introduced herself, giving Alice a soft smile. "While it is a pleasure to finally meet you, I wish it were under different circumstances."

Alice stared at the woman in awe, managing to nod her head in understanding that the witch in front of her was going to play a large role in the years that were to come.

The young girl was okay with this thought.

Turning her attention to her other visitor, Alice suspected that he wouldn't be a professor like his counterpart. He seemed to know her on a more personal level and this both intrigued and scared her. The man appeared to be rather sweet and gentle, but the scars on his face seemed to indicate otherwise.

"Remus Lupin," the man stated, watching the girl carefully. "This might be a bit of a shock, but I happen to be your godfather."

Alice couldn't seem to keep her mouth from falling open as she inhaled sharply at the information presented to her. The young girl was almost startled rather than surprised with the man's statement, considering that she had only heard what little her parents had discussed about him the day before.

"When all this rubbish with the Ministry is done with, Remus will become your guardian," McGonagall said, drawing the young girl's attention away from her godfather. "You will be looked after under his roof, and I will drop in the first few months to make sure that everything is going smoothly."

Alice caught Lupin's face fall ever so slightly out of the corner of her eye, causing her heart to break faintly. Her own godfather didn't even know her and already looked like he dreaded the idea of looking after her.

"What's happened with the Ministry?" Alice asked, a little confused.

"Well, it concerns what happened to your parents," Remus answered, tapping his hands on her cell bars. "They're under the impression that you caused the fire."

"But I didn't-"

"We know, and we believe you," McGonagall interrupted her. "We just need to convince them that you're innocent."

Alice's face fell at the professor's words, knowing that going against what the Ministry thought of her would be no easy task. It would most likely take months for them to even consider that she were innocent. The young girl scrunched up her face in frustration, knowing that the following months would be difficult ones.

"Try not to worry, little one," Remus said, noticing her distraught expression. "Everything will turn out okay."

"Remus is right, for now you must rest," McGonagall said, turning her attention to the entrance of the town jail. "I will go speak to whoever put you in this preposterous cell. You need proper rest in a proper bed."

The professor left without a second glance, causing Alice's eyes to fall onto her godfather's form. She watched him with pleading eyes, not wanting to be left alone. She felt lonely enough as it was.

"I'm not going anywhere," Lupin stated, almost as if he were reading her mind. "Try to get some rest while McGonagall works on getting you out of here. I'll be close by, I promise."

Alice spent another moment staring at the man, making sure that he would stay true to his word. Eventually, the young girl laid down on her side, resting her head against the coble floor once again. A part of her didn't want to sleep, knowing that nothing but nightmares would flood her dreams. It would either be of her burning homestead and all the horrors that came with it or of a murder of two parents as their young boy was left alone with a lightning bolt scar and the horrors of the world.

However, it wouldn't be long until said boy began dreaming of her horrible incident as well.

* * *

 _3 years later_

They were exhausted. The two had been awake and shaken for hours and their muscles ached something fierce while their blood beat quickly through their veins. Alice didn't know why, but it seemed that this dreadful night of nights was significantly worse than any the two of them had experienced before. She was bleeding from a large gash on her arm and felt dirt crusting slowly on the features of her face. One of her pant legs had been shredded into nothing while her other shoe was nowhere to be found. Alice found it hard to breathe, feeling blood trickle from the slash on her temple.

However, she wasn't worried about any of that. Her only focus and concern was on the man in front of her, lying on the dirt patch surrounded by wild flowers that grew in the field near their home. The chains that had failed to keep him in his room hung from his wrists, charmed by Alice herself. Obviously it didn't work, or they wouldn't be curled up in the grass and covered in dirt under the light of the full moon. She wanted to say something, to comfort her own godfather some way, but she knew him and understood that Remus never liked to talk about his transformations.

Especially when they had gone as horrible as this one.

"Remus," she whispered, wincing at the wound on her head. "We need to get you inside and cleaned up. You can't stay out here all night."

Her godfather hadn't looked at her since he had changed back into his human form. He never could face her after his transformations, the guilt of having put her through it all tearing him apart from the inside out. It wasn't hard to tell. Alice could read the man like an open book. The girl of eleven simply felt bad that she couldn't do anything to help. She tried to plan out the nights when the moon was full like a fine art, always hoping that her next plan would work.

She had yet to find one that did.

Alice watched as Remus moved for the first time in twenty minutes, slowly turning to look at the young girl who sat off to the side watching him with worried eyes.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

"No." She lied, letting her hair fall over the wound on her temple and covered her injured arm.

Her godfather groaned and let out a sigh, slowly getting up from his position on the ground in order to move closer to her.

"Let me see."

Alice let her arm hang loose and tucked her hair behind her ear reluctantly, knowing that the man would be upset with himself for hurting her. She didn't care, as long as she was alive. What she cared about was whether he could live another day or not.

Remus, frowning deeply, looked over her wounds and touched them gingerly wit his hands. An occasional halt of breath would occur when he prodded at her injuries, but other than that, she was fine.

"I did a number on you this time, didn't I?" Her godfather chuckled, though it lacked any humor.

"I'm fine, but we should really get you inside. You're going to be unbelievably sore tomorrow, Remus." She said as he shook his head.

"I'll look after myself later, you're more important-"

"I am not."

The man looked up at the girl he had been looking after these past few years. While she might have grown physically, she continued to grow in her intelligence and quirks as well. Even after three years, Alice still had her mother's temper and willpower. It baffled the werewolf how much she took after her parents. Her father had been a gifted individual when it came to magic, carrying the blood of Gryffindor in his veins just like his daughter. Colin had a lot of wit and was quite the comical boy when he attended Hogwarts. Those same sarcastic remarks and contagious laughs carried into his adulthood.

Her mother, on the other hand, was a tad bit frightening. Coming from a powerful line of wizards, she was just as gifted as her husband. Violet studied twice as hard as anyone else, even though she didn't need to. She was always top of the class, and Remus wasn't sure how the two wizards had met. Most likely in their third year, when the werewolf and his friends had seen them together near the Whopping Willow.

That evil tree attacked everyone who came near it, the exception being Violet and Colin.

Remus chuckled softly, which took his goddaughter by surprise.

"I think you need some chocolate, little moon," he smiled, slowly standing up and offering her his hand. "You're a bit grouchy."

"Well, you know. Running after a werewolf all night can get pretty tiring. And it's past my bedtime."

"You don't have a bedtime."

"All I know is that I should be sleeping right now, so pardon me for being 'grouchy'."

Remus smiled down at her once again, helping her up onto her feet. The young girl returned his smile, wondering where this sudden change of mood had come from. The werewolf was wondering that himself, but he realized it when she linked his arm with hers.

He realized that he was being slightly selfish in his thoughts, but he couldn't help it. Remus was simply happy that he didn't suffer through yet another horrible night alone.

* * *

Alice woke up with a groan, feeling soft linens lining her body and wrapping her in warmth. Her muscles were still aching from the night before and her arm itched angrily, causing her facial features to scrunch up in annoyance. Bringing a hand up to itch the irritated section of skin, she froze when she felt little pieces of thread along her arm. Sitting up and throwing the sheets off of her, Alice looked down at her injured arm to see fresh stitches sown into her wound. She brought her hand up to her head and felt smaller and finer threat stitched along her temple.

A lot of things seemed to be absent from her memory. She didn't know how or when the stitches had been done, she had no idea how she got back home, and she definitely did not remember crawling into bed.

She knew the culprit was Remus, and she smiled softly at the thought of him carrying her home, stitching her up, and throwing her into bed. She couldn't have felt more honored to call him her godfather, even if that meant making sure he doesn't kill anyone or get killed when the full moon comes along.

Looking past the stitches on her arm and onto the sheets of her bed, all she saw were stains of blood, dirt, and mud across the linens. She let out a long, tired breath before rolling out of her bed carefully, all the grime and blood coming out after her. Alice stripped the cot of its sheets and blankets, balling the layers of fabric up into one pile in her arms. The young girl made her way towards the door of her bedroom, opening it up a crack with the wave of her hand; just enough for her to push the door open further with her foot and slip her body through.

She navigated slowly through the old house, being careful as to not trip and fall over something as ridiculous as a loose board. The stairs were the trickiest, but she managed it with the swiftness of a snail.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs with careful footwork, Alice was startled to hear a familiar female voice in the kitchen. The young girl had forgotten about their visitor coming today, much to her discontent. She looked as though she had been run over by a heard of centaur.

Not exactly presentable.

"Morning Professor." Alice greeted tiredly as she rounded the corner and entered the kitchen, covering up a section the massive table with the linens she had been carrying as their guest sat at the other end of the table.

"Merlin's Beard, you look grisly!" Professor McGonagall stated, watching the girl with wide eyes, only to turn her attention to Remus who was leaning near the kitchen sink with a cup of coffee situated in his hands. "Did last night really go that horribly? You both have stitches and everything!"

"It wasn't exactly pleasant," Remus replied, watching Alice fall into the chair at the table opposite of McGonagall. "Good morning, Alice."

"Morning Remus." The girl replied, sending him a quick smile before looking at the linens with pained eyes.

"You do plan on getting washed up before we leave today, don't you?" McGonagall asked, sipping her own coffee.

Alice closed her eyes and sighed. She'd forgotten that the two of them were to go and get her things for her first year at Hogwarts. While she had been looking forward to going to Diagon Alley, the young girl wasn't exactly in her best state of mind, or physical form. Just not at all.

"I will, trust me. I feel disgusting," Alice answered, glaring at the sheets in front of her. "What's the name of that cleaning charm again? My mind has gone blank on me."

"Do you mean the Scouring Charm?" McGonagall suggested, setting the girl's mind at ease. That was the one.

"Saving the day once again, professor," Alice smiled thankfully at the woman. "Now, let's see. The hand movement is in the shape of an 'S'-"

The words halted in her mouth before they could leave her lips as her eyes fell on the linens she had carried down from her room. They remained the same, expect for the fact that they were no longer covered in blood, dirt, and Merlin knows what else covered the fabric.

Her eyes shifted towards where Remus stood, watching him carefully tuck his wand back into the pocket of his trousers.

"You always need to one up me, don't you?" Alice asked, shaking her head at her godfather as he chuckled softly.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ugh, werewolves. Typical."

Remus grinned widely at the young girl as Professor McGonagall watched their interaction closely. While the fact that Lupin was a werewolf worried the woman to no end at whether it had been the right decision to leave the girl with him, she understood that the Fairfax family trusted the man and wouldn't have made him their children's godfather if he would be a factor in their demise. It had been difficult to get the Ministry on their side about handing the guardianship of the Fairfax child over to the werewolf, but it did take less time to get their approval of the matter than it had to convince them that the girl was innocent.

Many people still don't feel that she is.

"Alright, Alice. Why don't you go get cleaned up? We'd want to get to Diagon Alley before it gets too busy."

"I'm sure it will be busy no matter what time we go, but I agree. I'm tired of feeling like a ghoul." Alice replied, shooting Remus a look before disappearing around the corner.

The two adults chuckled quietly as they heard the young girl march up the stairs and close the upstairs bathroom door. It wasn't until they heard the water running that they began talking once again.

"Are you upset?" Remus asked the professor once the two had ceased their laughing, watching her face fall ever so slightly.

"With what? How banged up she looks?" McGonagall questioned with a bit of a curt laugh. "Well, I'm not exactly pleased and I don't think the Ministry would be too content, but she seems happy, Remus. She really does."

There was a pause in conversation. What the professor had said was true. While things have been more than difficult for the young girl these past few years, Alice seemed content in her actions. She never complained about having to deal with the full moon, only the occasional comment about her attire would slip from her lips, but the two would be so unbelievably tired after those long nights that all they could do was laugh about it.

At the beginning, Alice had been quiet around the two adults, especially Remus. The werewolf wasn't exactly sure why, but it probably had to do with the fact that she was terrified out of her wits with the situation in front of her. She never really had any time to think about what was going on in her life. It was either another hearing, another court appointment, another day of travelling, another day of adjusting, something to keep her busy. It had almost been a full year before she started having normal conversations with either of the adults that were watching over her.

Remus remembered that day clearly. The two of them had finally gotten everything settled with the Ministry and were sitting in a dingy and dull café, which held very few people. The werewolf had chosen to drink a tea, since it was a fairly cold day in London, and Alice sipped on a hot chocolate, personally recommended by Remus. That had been the first change: she had taken his opinion into consideration. Not to say that she never listened, because she did quite well, she simply lacked any personal connection with anyone.

The two sat in silence, drinking their own brews as they watched people walk by through the window of the little shop. Remus had not expected any sort of conversation to occur between them, since another long week had come to a close, but when he felt a tug on the sleeve of his jacket, he hesitantly looked down at the pale girl beside him.

"Did you know that it takes four hundred cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate?" The girl asked out of the blue, causing Remus to look at her tentatively.

"No, I did not." He replied, watching her carefully.

"Did you know that eating dark chocolate every day reduces the risk of heart disease by one third?"

"Hm, interesting."

"Also, when consuming chocolate, the endorphins in the brain work to lessen stress and decrease pain."

"Now that I did know."

"That's why you always give me chocolate."

Remus was shocked. The fact that the two of them were having a conversation caused the man's thought process to freeze momentarily out of pure surprise. Not only was she talking to him for what seemed like the first time since they had met in the Hollow jail, but she was also intelligent. Way beyond the knowledge of any normal child her age.

"How do you know all this?" Remus asked, watching the girl closely.

"I read a lot," Alice said, smiling softly. "Thanks for giving me the chocolate all those times. It means a lot to me."

With the young girl's smile and words of gratitude, Remus knew. He and McGonagall had worried about it for months and months, had discussed it together, and had even brought it up with Dumbledore himself, but now he knew. He had felt it in his gut, had known it in his mind, but now he had the physical proof

Remus knew that this little girl had not died along with the rest of her family.

And she was going to be just fine.

* * *

 _Chapter complete! I hope you all enjoyed._

 _Feel free to leave some feedback, I'd love to hear it!_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	3. A Trip To Diagon Alley

_Hello!_

 _Here's my final chapter for the night. I hope you guys are enjoying reading it just as much as I am writing it! Things start to pick up a little bit more in this chapter so I hope you enjoy~_

 _I do not own Harry Potter. Only the OCs are mine!_

* * *

The shower had felt like the gates of heaven had opened up and embraced her with welcoming arms. She had painfully rubbed her skin raw of all the grime and filth that covered her torso and she felt like a new person all together. She watched as steam rose from her reddened skin and swirled around her, the entire bathroom full of nothing but hot air. Alice could have stayed in the shower much longer, but she knew that McGonagall would want to get to Diagon Alley sooner than later.

When she had caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, the first thing the young girl had spotted about her appearance was of the large scar that ran across her collarbone. The pink scar trailed a long jagged line along her fair skin, making it stick out like a sore eye. McGonagall had told her that she had received the scar when her house had collapse on her and was made worse when the town's people had pulled her out of the wreckage. Alice hated the thing, as it was a constant reminder of that horrid day. However, it was also a pleasant reminder that she was still here, still breathing, still surviving.

She decided that this was a good thing.

Throwing on some jeans and a red t-shirt, the young girl tossed her hair up into a loose ponytail, the end strands dangling in between her shoulder blades. In all honesty, Alice had no idea what to wear. She was mildly terrified, considering the fact that she had been avoiding the public for roughing a year and a half now. She was also more than aware of the fact that people still thought she was responsible for the death of her family. Fear shook her at the idea of losing her temper in public, causing a massive scene. That was the last thing she wanted.

The only thing that calmed her disastrous thoughts was the sight of the small white envelope that sat on her side table. Letting out a shaky breath of air, Alice walked over to her letter, which McGonagall had handed to her in person only months ago, and rested a careful hand on the soft paper.

Only a week left until she would be going to Hogwarts.

"Everything is going to be fine." She mumbled to herself, not really believing her own words, but she had to keep a positive mentality. Even if it wasn't quite real.

Shutting off the lights of her room behind her, Alice ran down the stairs much less gracefully than she had this morning. She knew that McGonagall wanted to go as soon as possible, especially when she rounded the corner to see the Professor's irked expression waiting by the door.

"Ready to go, are we?" McGonagall asked, her expression softening when she saw the young girl stiffen in her posture.

"I suppose so." Alice said with a long breath, turning to face Remus who waited in the doorway of the kitchen. The man gave her a smile of his own, but it was obvious that he was nervous for her as well.

"You'll be okay, Alice. You've got McGonagall with you," her godfather said, walking forward to give the young girl a hug. "I'll see you in a few hours."

She hugged him back, tighter than she had expected to. With her eyes watering uncontrollably, Alice refused to look at his face. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, she wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready for the sideways glances, for the comments, for how she would react.

Yet she knew if she didn't go now, she never would.

Alice released her godfather and turned quickly on her heel, walking through the front door that McGonagall held open for her. She blinked her eyes rapidly, getting rid of the tears that were pooling in the corners of her eyes. Managing to swallow the huge lump in her throat as she heard McGonagall close the door with a final goodbye to Remus, Alice quirked her head to the side when she saw a car parked out on the road.

"We'll be taking a taxi into London." McGonagall said, noticing the young girl's curious gaze.

"That's going to be quite the fare." Alice mumbled, walking towards the car with the older woman.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Fairfax."

The two of them got into the back seat of the taxi and Alice watched as the professor gave the man behind the wheel a small folded piece of paper, most likely with the address of their location scribbled on it. The driver nodded and shifted gears, pulling them along the dirt road away from the old, lonely house.

It took roughly an hour for them to arrive in London, the streets packed with cars and pedestrians alike. Alice hasn't seen so many people in one place in her life, and a bubble of excitement was slowly eating away at her nerves. Her fears and wonders were stirring around in her stomach together, not knowing what would happen in the hours to come.

"We're here." McGonagall said, pulling Alice out of her thoughts. She hadn't even noticed that the car had stopped.

The young girl got out of the taxi, stretching her sore limbs that hadn't had much room to move about in the backseat of the car they had just occupied for the last hour. She blinked her tired eyes as they adjusted to the light, only for them to land on a broken down pub front. Alice was puzzled as her eyes roamed the front of the dark-painted inn and turned to make her concern known to McGonagall, only for the Professor to beat her to it.

"Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron," McGonagall said, attempting to hide her amused expression at the young girl's reaction to their location. "It's quite alright, dearie. While it does look a bit run down-"

"A bit?"

"-it's rather safe. We're only passing through."

Alice nodded, slowly following the professor onto the sidewalk and through the front door of the pub. The inside of the Cauldron matched the outside to the letter, the only difference being that it was a tad bit grimier inside. The whole main area was dark and shabby, the bar and a number of tables hiding in the shadows and corners of the pub. Frames that held faded pictures hung on the walls; some still moving while others remained still. Some pots and plates floated through the air, disappearing behind the bar and around the corner. An old yet charming staircase could be seen leading to the upstairs at the back of the pub, making Alice wonder what secrets remained within the walls.

McGonagall noticed the girl staring at her surroundings and smiled, though the drifting glances from the customers at the bar were starting to make even the professor a bit nervous.

"Come on, Alice. Let us continue along." McGonagall said, ushering the girl in front of her. The young girl had caught onto the looks of the pub occupants as well, quickly walking towards the back of the pub with the professor right behind her.

They didn't get very far, however.

"Miss Fairfax! What an honour!"

Alice turned her attention in the direction in which her name was spoken, her eyes falling on an older looking man who was starting to bald. He had a rather large looking nose with wrinkles framing his face. A beige shirt and black vest were strapped to his person and he had a glass as well as a cleaning rag in his hand.

"Hello?" Alice asked, eyebrows scrunched up slightly in confusion as the man approached the two of them, a smile on his face.

"My apologies, young one. I didn't mean to scare you," the man smiled, staring down at her in wonder. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, though. Read all about you in the papers. Such a shame with what happened to your family. My greatest condolences."

Alice blinked at the man a few times, trying to register all the words that were flying out of his mouth.

"Hello, Tom," McGonagall said, resting a hand on Alice's shoulder. "This is the gentleman that owns the bar, Alice. He's quite nice."

The young girl nodded, turning her attention back to the man. She wasn't exactly sure how to proceed, feeling many pairs of eyes on her being. Letting out a much-needed breath, she simply held out her hand to the man.

The man's smile seemed to grow even wider and he grasped her hand gently. She was surprised by his reaction and smiled a little bit herself.

It was then that people fled to them, introducing themselves to the young girl who shook hand after hand, a flurry of words and best wishes being thrown her way. It was more than a bit overwhelming for Alice, and she was surprised by their reaction. To her, it seemed as though they were just as confused on how to approach her as she was with them.

McGonagall realized that the small and innocent interaction between the owner and the Girl of Ember reminded everyone in the bar that Alice was, in fact, still a young girl with her whole life in front of her.

"Alright, alright!" McGonagall called over the small crowd of witches and wizards, going to Alice's side once again. "I'm afraid we must be going. Shopping for school will not do itself."

Alice watched as the faces around her seemed to light up even more and the occupants of the bar seemed almost more excited for her to attend Hogwarts than she was herself.

"That's right! Best be getting a move on," Tom said, steering the crowd of people back towards their tables before looking back at Alice. "Make your ancestors proud, soon-to-be Gryffindor!"

Alice tried unbelievably hard to not cringe at the man's comment, and instead gave a half forced smile, knowing that the man meant no harm. The young girl gave a quick wave before McGonagall ushered her around the corner found at the back of the pub and through the back door.

The two witches found themselves in a chilly courtyard that seemed to hold nothing but a brick wall and the door in which they had just entered through. While it was a bit strange, Alice was happy to be out of the crowd.

"How are you managing?" McGonagall asked her, only to be met with a laugh that was filled with exhaustion and exasperation from the younger girl.

"I'm still in one piece, so I think I'm okay," Alice said, looking up at the professor. "Just, a bit-"

"Overwhelmed?"

"Yes, that's the word."

McGonagall gave the girl a kind smile, only for the older woman to step forward and turn her attention to the brick wall in front of them.

"Well, deep breath, Miss Fairfax," she said, taping the bricks in the wall with her wand in an anti-clockwise order. "We've only just begun."

With her final tap on the brick wall, everything began to shift around. It took Alice a moment to realize that they were moving out of the way, making a door for them. She couldn't exactly see what was on the other side, but when she did, the breath had been knocked out of her completely.

Before her stood the one and only Diagon Alley. A vast assortment of restaurants, shops, and multiple other buildings could be seen amongst the busy streets. A few even had tables out front for the busy shoppers to rest under. The amount of people in the street mildly terrified Alice; she couldn't ignore the excitement that had bubbled up in her chest. Everything about the sight in front of her was magical.

"This is the best thing I've seen in three years." Alice mumbled to herself in awe, unable to pull her eyes away from the spectacular market.

"Well, come on then. Lots to do," McGonagall said, smiled down at the young girl as they made their way into the busy street. "We shall go to Gringotts first, we're going to need money."

Alice nodded softly. Both Remus and McGonagall had informed her roughly a year ago about the wealth her family had left behind. She wouldn't be able to touch these funds until she was eleven and this didn't bother her, since she didn't truly have much of a need for any money at the time.

Funding her education was different though.

The two managed to get through the crowded streets and into Gringotts only at the cost of their non-sweaty clothes as well as their sanity. The amount of times Alice had been elbowed or shoved in the ribs resulted in both her sides aching and her lungs short of air. She only managed to get a full breath in when the two of them stepped through the front doors of an incredibly colossal building that towered over the others in the Alley.

Climbing up a set of polished marble stairs together, the witches approached a set of silver doors with a sort of warning engraved into them:

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there._

Alice's eyes had been so entranced by the doors that she had almost missed the small and fair-skinned creatures that stood on either side of the doors. By their long fingers and feet as well as their dome shaped heads, the young girl came to the conclusion that they were goblins.

They ran the bank after all, so she wasn't exactly surprised by their presence. Alice was more surprised by the fact that she was actually seeing a goblin for the first time in her eleven years of life.

A hand was placed on her head, pulling her attention back to McGonagall would gave her a reassuring smile as the doors in front of them opened.

The young girl's eyes widened at the sight of the vast marble hall that stood in front of her. Long counters stretched along the hall's length with doors leading off to what Alice assumed to be the vault passageways. At least a hundred goblins sat behind their desks or by the passageway doors. The largest chandelier Alice had ever seen hung from the center of the hall, even though the large space was dimly lit.

Alice had barely noticed that McGonagall was practically dragging her in the direction of one of the desks, where a goblin sat high up on a stool working away signing papers.

"Good morning," McGonagall said to the goblin behind the desk, which gave her a quick glance before looking back down at his papers. "We've come to take money out of the Fairfax vault. I have Alice Fairfax with me."

This seemed to catch the goblins attention, as the small creature looked up from its paperwork and down at the eleven-year-old. It stared at her for a long time, shifting through a few papers after a moment before nodding its head.

"Very well, I shall have Griphook take you down to your vault," the goblin said before shouting down the hall. "Griphook!"

As soon as Alice saw the other goblin walking over to their location, she knew that this goblin would be a difficult character to talk with. His grumpy and annoyed facial features made the young girl pause in her breathing, especially when he made eye contact with her.

His eyes seemed to narrow when he met her own.

"Follow me." The goblin grunted, sauntering off down the marble hallway as Alice and the professor followed quickly behind him.

Alice was surprised when the marble didn't continue past the doors that led into the vaults. Narrow stone passageways lit by torches stretched out in front of them while small rails could be found on the floor beneath their feet. Alice's eyes followed the rails forward, but lost sight of them, as they seemed to plummet farther into the vaults. Griphook let loose a whistle and a cart came rushing towards them, coming to a halt as it seemed to be waiting for them to get in.

Once the three were inside the cart, the thing took off so fast that the professor almost fell out of the cart. They hurtled through a maze of twists and turns as the cart took them deeper and deeper underground. Alice fought the urge to close her burning eyes, trying to keep up with the turns they were making.

"Do you know the answer to the riddle to get into your vault?" Griphook called over the noise of the cart, seemingly unbothered by the speed they were travelling at.

"Riddle?" Alice asked, eyebrows furrowing. She was never told of a riddle.

"A Sphinx guards your family vault since your family is one of the older families," McGonagall explained, seemingly alarmed. "Your parents never told you the answer?"

Alice shook her head furiously and the young girl didn't miss the groan that escaped the goblin's mouth. Breathing much faster now, Alice had read about Sphinxes a few years ago. They are extremely intelligent and are capable of human speech, having a love of puzzles, riddles, and enigmas. Not to mention that these riddles are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to answer correctly.

They are also fully capable of killing human beings if they answer incorrectly.

The young girl's stomach seemed to drop when their cart came to a stop, not prepared for the challenge ahead as her eyes fell on a large golden door that seemed to be the height of the tunnel itself. Round in shape, the vault door was fixed with beautiful jewels of almost every color, some larger than others. As Alice approached the door and got a closer look, intricate patterns were cut into the golden door.

And that's when she realized that it made the shape of a lion.

She wasn't really that surprised.

Griphook walked towards the door, stepping in front of the young girl and placing his small hand on the vault door. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, much to Alice's disappointment. She looked up at the lion on the door and saw it begin to move, slowly moving its limbs as if it were waking up from a nap. It did not growl at them, nor did it show any signs of agitation. It simply looked at the three of them and seemed to understand the situation before it disappeared into the gold of the door.

Clicking could be heard on the other side of the large vault door and Alice watched as the door slowly began to open, a large rumbling sound echoing through the tunnels as it moved.

Alice could feel her stomach tumbling around nervously as she watched the door open painfully slow. Even the hand on her shoulder didn't provide her with much comfort.

"It's quite alright, young one. I will be with you-"

"You cannot go with her into the vault."

McGonagall looked at the goblin as if the small creature had lost his mind, a bewildered expression resting on her facial features.

"She cannot go in there by herself. That creature-"

"'That creature'," Griphook growled. "Will attack anyone who is not apart of the Fairfax bloodline. So unless you value your life-"

"Alright, fine!" The professor replied angrily at the small being. Letting out a stressed and frustrated sigh, she turned her attention to Alice.

"Listen carefully, Alice. I know it will be difficult, but try to go in there with a clear head. If you are overwhelmed by fear, the creature will know and use it as an advantage."

Alice tried her best to nod to inform the professor that she understood, but her heart was racing a hundred miles a minute and her voice was lost in her throat. She closed her eyes briefly, taking in a large breath of musty air before turning to face the vault door.

"I suppose now we'll find out if I'm truly a Gryffindor or not."

When the young girl got no reply from the professor or the goblin, she shook her head a bit before walking through the vault door and into the darkness.

Alice spent at least a full two minutes walking through nothing but obscurity, no light to show her where to go. She did not trip over anything or walk into any structures, and just as she was about to turn back in order to leave the vault, multiple flames ignited to reveal where she was.

The young Fairfax stood in a massive room made of solid stone. The ceiling was much higher than Alice expected. Someone could probably fly a broom in the vault with no problem at all. Shapes were carved into the walls and ceiling, but she could not make them out do to only a few torches being present in the vault. The thing that took her by surprise, however, was that there was nothing in the giant room. Nothing at all.

Except herself and an animal like figure sitting in the middle of the chamber

The creature hadn't moved a muscle the entire time Alice had been in the vault. It sat on its hind legs while its front limbs kept it upright. The size of its paws was much larger than Alice had expected, much to her discomfort. In fact, its entire lion body was bigger than she could have ever imagined. The creature's tail was wrapped around its front paws.

The creature's head was a complete different story. While the fact that it had the head of a woman did sit a bit uncomfortably in Alice's stomach, what was worse was that its almond shaped eyes hadn't blinked once since she first entered the vault.

And they were looking directly at her.

"Alice Fairfax, I have three riddles for you. Answer them all correctly, and receive what is due." The creature stated, its voice calm but strong.

"Three riddles? I thought I only had to answer one?" The young girl stated in confusion.

The sphinx did not respond, and only continued to stare at her, much to Alice's annoyance. The situation was getting more difficult by the minute.

The young girl took in a large breath, attempting to calm her nerves. When she had finally managed to put a stop to her anxieties, Alice nodded at the creature.

The sphinx appeared as if it had smiled at her.

"Tall I am young. Short I am old. While with life I glow, Wind is my foe," the sphinx enunciates clearly, still looking at Alice. "What am I?"

It was at that moment that the young girl realized that she was far more similar to the sphinx than she was comfortable admitting. Alice loved games and solving problems to the point where she took up chess, two thousand piece puzzles, and multiple other muggle mind games. She made Remus play her in chess almost every day, much to the man's discontent. Every single aspect of those muggle brain games excited and interested her.

And if she had learned anything from her knowledge of games and her late night readings, there was always a weak point in every mind game.

It was just a matter of finding that kink in the armor.

The word "glow" seemed to be the key word, for it would be the answer in getting rid of the personification of the answer that the riddle was trying to hide. It was most likely an object that gave off light literally, not figuratively, due to the mention of wind being the enemy.

"An open flame?" She mumbled to herself, not wanting to sphinx to hear her answer just yet.

 _What is an open flame that is tall when it is new and short when it is used?_

Alice grinned to herself.

"A candle." She answered, loud enough for the sphinx to hear this time.

The creature blinked its eyes at her, almost in disappointment that she had guessed correctly. However, it shook of its annoyance and regained its composure as it got up from its spot in the middle of the chamber and moved towards Alice.

"A natural state, I'm sought by all. Go without me, and you shall fall. You do me when you spend, and use me when you eat to no end," the creature recited, stopping a few meters away from the young girl. "What am I?"

Alice watched the sphinx with an uncomfortable look on her face, feeling less confident now since the creature had moved much closer than the young girl would have liked. She knew it was a scare tactic, and it seemed to be working.

The young Fairfax looked down at the ground, attempting to avoid the creature's gaze in order to concentrate. She knew from the way the riddle was said that the answer wasn't a physical object, but a hypothetical one. Focusing on the first two sentences would provide her with the general idea, and she decided that the third sentence would provide her with the answer.

After a few minutes, Alice realized the first half of the riddle was only confusing her more. With frustrated sigh, she decided that the section on spending would be the key to figuring out the riddle. The words "do" and "use" stood out to her, and that's when Alice's eyes went wide.

"Balance!" She yelled happily, surprised that it had come to her so suddenly.

The sphinx frowned once again, but it was soon replaced by an amused look as it sauntered over to where Alice stood, sitting down right in front of her. The eleven-year-old went completely still, feeling the creature's breath fanning her face as it opening its mouth for the final riddle.

"I am the beginning of sorrow, and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me; yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk, yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun, but I am never out of darkness."

Alice took a few minutes to steady her breathing and ignore the carnivorous look in the creature's amused eyes. She closed her eyes, going over the riddle in her head. Knowing that this was exactly what the sphinx wanted, the young girl almost opened her eyes.

That was until she noticed something.

Since it was the final riddle, which would no doubt be trickier than the previous two, she knew that the answer would be much more obvious in an attempt to set the person up for failure. She pictured herself writing out the riddle on a piece of paper, paying attention to every imaginary stroke of her quill. It was when she reached halfway through the riddle that her eyes flew open.

Alice had an answer, but she was terrified that her logic was wrong. What if it was something much more complex than what she had come up with? She was so close to getting past the sphinx, she didn't want to fail now.

"I'll give you another minute to think of an answer," the sphinx finally said, startling Alice violently at the sudden statement. "If you do not come up with one by then, I'm afraid the game will be over."

The young girl squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that having this last minute wouldn't change anything in her final answer. It would just make herself doubt her conclusion more than she already did.

"Okay, okay," Alice said, looking at the sphinx with a steady gaze. "It's the letter S."

There was a pause in between the young girl and the creature and the air seemed to thin, causing Alice's nervous to skyrocket.

 _Oh god, I guessed wrong._

She couldn't read the sphinx's expression as the creature turned and began walking back to the center of the room. Once it found the spot where it had been originally, it simply turned around and lied down on the floor.

That's when piles of gold began to appear all around the room.

Stacks of Galleons filled the entire room, the only empty and visible floor being where Alice herself stood. Some of the stacks almost reached the ceiling while others looked like mountains rather than piles. Amongst the massifs of coins that surrounded her, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and all kinds of precious gemstones could be seen scattered in with the gold coins and accessories. A few paintings, multiple sets of armor and weapons, boxes overflowing with jewelry, and even a few large decorated books were even in the midst of it all.

And Alice had lost her breath once again.

* * *

After taking out what coins she could fit into a small bag, Alice happily left the vaults with a baffled McGonagall and an annoyed but impressed Griphook. The two witches thanked and bid the goblin a farewell, to which he said nothing. They weren't expecting anything in return anyways.

With money now firmly in their pockets, Alice and the professor walked around the still-very-crowded Diagon Alley. They managed to grab her three sets of black robes, a black pointed hat, a pair of protective gloves, and a winter cloak. As for books, Alice had the majority of them back at home with Lupin. Mr. Hugo had given her the stack that she had left at the store the day her family home had burned down. Almost two-thirds of the books she needed for first year were in that pile.

As for other equipment, they had managed to find her a standard size cauldron, a set of glass phials, a telescope, and a set of brass scales.

Now it was just a matter of getting a wand.

Alice had always had a fear of never having a connection with a wand, or never having a wand choose her. She knew it was a silly thing to worry about, but many things seemed to worry her these days.

Nobody really blamed her for that though.

The two witches stood in front of the shabby looking wand shop, the gold letters of _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._ had begun to peel away from the grey store front. Two large windows stood on either side of the entrance, showcasing only a single wand.

Despite her fears of the unknown, Alice walked through the door of the wand shop without the push that McGonagall had been planning on giving her. The older witch was surprised by the sudden action, but smiled nonetheless.

The inside of the shop was tiny, and the overwhelming piles of narrow boxes stacked to the ceiling reminded Alice of Mr. Hugo's bookshop back in the Hollow. She assumed that the thin boxes held wands, and the vast amount of them made the young girl freeze in amazement. There must have been thousands in the small shop.

But which one would become hers?

"Good afternoon." A soft voice rang out from Alice's left, causing her to jump at the sudden sound.

She turned to see an old man with large silver eyes that almost seemed to shine in the dimly lit shop. He watched Alice carefully, eyes not blinking as he slowly approached her with a ghost of a grin on his face.

"I was wondering when you would come into my shop, Miss Fairfax," the man said, giving her a long look before turning his attention to McGonagall. "Good to see you as well, professor."

"It is always a pleasure, Mr. Ollivander." The older witch replied as the man looked back at Alice with curious eyes.

"It seemed like only yesterday that both your mother and father had come into my shop. Nine and a half inches for your mother. Made of ash with unicorn hair as its core. Good for wizards that are strong and not swayed away from their beliefs," Mr. Ollivander stated, shocking Alice into silence. "Your father, on the other hand, had a wand made of blackthorn. Eleven inches in length with a core made of dragon heartstring. Perfect for Aurors, extremely loyal and faith wands."

Alice remained quiet, processing the wand maker's words. His memory was incredible.

"How…?" She tried to voice her bewilderment.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Fairfax," the old man said, giving the young girl a smile. She realized he still hadn't blinked much. "Now, let us begin. We have work to do. If you would please hold out your dominant arm."

Alice blinked but nonetheless listened to the old man, raising her right arm for the wand maker. Ollivander pulled out a tape measure and the object got to work on its own, measuring the young girl from her shoulder to the tips of her fingers. There were a few other measurements done that made her question the old man, but she kept quiet.

"Alright, let us begin," Ollivander mumbled, the tape measure disappearing back into his pocket as one of the thousands of narrow boxes flew over to where they stood. "Elm and dragon heartstring core. Eight and a half inches. Give it a try."

Alice took the wand from the book and felt the cold wood sitting in her hand. She waved it around softly, only for nothing to happen. Ollivander took the wand from her and another narrow box came flying over to them.

"Nine inches, cedar with unicorn hair core. Very loyal wand-" the wand maker began saying, only for Alice to wave the wand, which sent multiple boxes flying up into the ceiling, where they stayed like they had been glued there.

"Lime with phoenix feather core, seven inches-"

Nothing.

"Twelve inch maple with dragon heartstring core."

A few boxes got set on fire, which the wand maker quickly put out with the wave of his hand.

"Nine and a half inches made of rowan with unicorn-"

Again, nothing.

Alice's fears were starting to rise even though her conscience knew that it took multiple tries to find the perfect wand. Plus, it wasn't helping that Ollivander was staring at her again, analyzing her every move. After a moment of awkward silence, a single box came floating over to where the two of them stood. Alice stared at the box, to which the wand maker gave her a nod of reassurance. The young girl sent McGonagall a quick look, to which she sent the young witch a smile. Letting out a breath, Alice took the wand between her fingers and immediately felt warmth.

She felt _heat_.

Tingles were felt at every nerve ending in her body as the hairs at the back of her neck began to stand up. Her breathing slowed and she watched as the wand in her hand shone softly. Alice waved the wand softly, watching as small sparks came out of the end of the wand, like red and gold fireworks firing just for her. She felt like she was glowing from the inside out.

"Oh, how lovely!" Ollivander said, watching the wand with a soft smile playing on his lips. "The wand has chosen the wizard."

Alice couldn't pull her eyes away from the wand, _her_ wand. She could have never imagined the sensation she had just felt in a million years. It gave her goose bumps just thinking about it.

"And what is the wand-" McGonagall began, only to be cut off by Ollivander.

"Eleven inches made of yew with a phoenix feather core," the old man said, looking at Alice with his wild eyes. "A fantastic wand. Yew wands are among the rarer kinds, and their ideal matches are likewise unusual, and occasionally notorious. The yew wand is reputed to endow its possessor with the power of life and death. It retains a particularly dark and fearsome reputation in the spheres of dueling and all curses. However, it is untrue to say that those who use yew wands are more likely to be attracted to the Dark Arts than another. The witch or wizard best suited to a yew wand might equally prove a fierce protector of others."

Alice finally looked up at the wand maker for the first time since the wand had been placed in her hand. His words seemed to startle her a little, but she was still in awe at the wand that had chosen her.

"This next generation is going to be full of powerful witches and wizards, professor," Ollivander said, still looking at Alice. "This year will be a interesting one at Hogwarts, no? The descendent of Gryffindor himself, the Boy Who Lived-"

"The Boy Who Lived?" Alice asked, interrupting the old man.

"A boy your age named Harry Potter. He defeated You-Know-Who and survived the killing curse."

The young girl was surprised that McGonagall, or Lupin for that matter, had never mentioned this to her. Something about the information presented to her sat weird in her stomach, as if she knew what he was talking about, even though she had never heard of the boy until now.

Alice thought about this as she paid for her wand, Ollivander and McGonagall discussing something that wasn't registering in her head. She was too busy thinking and before the young girl knew it, they had left the shop and were standing in the busy street of the Alley again.

"Miss Fairfax?" McGonagall asked, pulling Alice out of her thoughts. "Do you want to go to the pet store or not?"

"Oh, uh, yes please."

The streets had definitely gotten busier since they had arrived earlier that morning. A part of her wanted to go home right away, her fatigue slowly taking over her. However, as she stood in front of the pet store that was surrounded by kids her age, her eyes fell on a pair of sharp yellow eyes staring at her from inside the shop.

A small cat, a little older than a kitten, sat at the window as its siblings played with one another in the background. It was a soft brown with black stripes, and its nose was a cute white, along with its belly and paws.

"Hey, professor?" Alice asked, grabbing the woman's attention. "How about that one?"

* * *

Alice didn't remember the last time she had been so exhausted. It had certainly been a while, that she knew. The car ride back to Lupin's had been a blur, having been in and out of consciousness as she stuck her finger in the box where her new kitten was in, only for cat to swing playfully at her index finger.

The young girl couldn't even remember how she had gotten all the way upstairs into her bedroom. A quick greeting had been shared with Remus, but he had simply smiled at her before sending her upstairs. She assumed that he wanted to speak to McGonagall before she left, which made Alice wonder if the professor had left already.

She hadn't said goodbye.

With a jolt, Alice looked down at her lap to see the kitten nibbling on her finger as her paws held it in place. The cat had frozen when she had looked down at it, looking as if it had been caught doing something it shouldn't have been doing in the first place.

Alice gave her a smile, lying down on her bed and placing the kitten on her stomach, where it continued to play with her fingers. She was faster than the young girl had expected, which only made her tired smile widen. The feline was definitely feisty, which only made the girl fall in love with the cat even more. Alice had noticed when they had gotten a closer look at her in the store that she had a small scar on her front leg.

Alice decided that it gave the cat character.

A knock was heard on her open door as she looked over to see McGonagall standing there gazing down at her.

 _Oh good, she hadn't left yet._

"Have you thought of a name yet?" The professor asked, coming into the room as she watched the cat.

"Hm, well I was thinking Scarlett," Alice said, holding up the cat with a grin on her face. "Get it? Cause she has a scar."

"Very funny, Miss Fairfax."

The young girl laughed at her own joke as she placed the cat back on her lap and sat up to look at the professor.

"Professor, can you tell me about this Boy-Who-Lived?" She asked, tilting her head. "And why have I never heard of him before?"

McGonagall's expression turned distressed at the request. Moving forward, the professor sat on Alice's bed and wrung out her hands in concern.

"I'm assuming your parents never told you?" The professor inquired.

"No, not that I can recall."

The older woman let out a sigh.

"The Potters were well known and loved by many. The reason I'm surprised that you haven't heard of this is because the incident happened in Godric's Hollow on Halloween about two years after you were born."

Alice blinked suddenly. The tragedy that happened in the Hollow that her parents would never discuss in front of her rang clearer now. The deaths of two individuals that she had never been informed of their names. There had even been the mention of a boy being sent off to live with his aunt.

"They never spoke about it to me." Alice mumbled, frowning at the thought.

"Well, a very terrible wizard, who nobody ever speaks his name out of pure fear, broke into their house and killed the Potters. Only the baby boy lived, and somehow managed to destroy He Who Must Not Be Named."

Alice stopped playing with her cat and froze completely. She felt like she wasn't hearing things right. It couldn't possibly be what she had heard the professor say, that wouldn't make any sense. How could it be possible?

"Professor."

"Is everything alright, Alice?"

"Do you remember me mentioning that reoccurring nightmare I've been having for years now?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"I think the people being murdered in my nightmares are the Potters."

McGonagall didn't answer right away, which only seemed to freak the young girl out even more. Her hands had unconsciously begun to shake to the point where the kitten had ceased playing with them to stare up at Alice as if it were concerned.

"That's just not possible."

"I don't think it is either, but…"

"What?"

"The Potters were killed in separate rooms, right? The father killed downstairs and the mother killed in the baby's room. And they were killed using one of the unforgivable curses, right? Probably the killing curse because there was a flash of green," Alice rambled on, her hands twitching about even more. "And the baby. The baby was left with a scar. A lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead."

McGonagall looked horrified at what the young girl beside her was describing. Her look only fed Alice's fears.

"I'm right, aren't I? Professor, I don't want to be," Alice mumbled, meeting the older witch's wide eyes. "Please explain to me how I know the details of an event that happened two years into my life, that I've never even heard of until now, and how it got into my dreams. I'm at a dead end here, I don't understand-"

The eleven year old physically stopped her rambling and looked off at the opposite wall, her breathing shallow and harsh. The kitten had moved out of her lap and now remained sitting on her pillow watching her with those yellow eyes. McGonagall remained silent as Alice's harsh breathing filled the room.

"I would keep this information to yourself for now, Miss Fairfax," McGonagall said, looking at the young witch in concern. "When you get to Hogwarts, I'll introduce you to Dumbledore and we will figure this out. I promise you this."

Alice nodded, her voice lost in her throat. She was so tired, but she was more than a little alarmed at what she had discovered. She felt wrong, like she had been kicked in the stomach multiple times. It just didn't sit well with her.

"You should get some rest, it was a long day," McGonagall said, patting Alice's leg softly as she got up from her bed. "I'll inform Remus of what is going on. I look forward to seeing you next week at Hogwarts."

The young Fairfax couldn't do anything but send the professor a forced smile. McGonagall returned this look as she walked to the doorway.

"Goodnight." The professor said as she shut the bedroom door.

Alice would be too busy having nightmares to have a good night.

* * *

 _It appears that Alice's nightmares aren't only nightmares..._

 _Another chapter completed! I can't wait for what's in store for this story, I'm very excited and I can't wait to share it with everyone._

 _Till next time!_

 _-GuiltyCalamity_


	4. The Journey To Hogwarts

_Hello hello!_

 _Here is yet another chapter. I do apologize for the long build up, but things are starting to pick up slowly. Many of the characters we've grown to love over the years are introduced in this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy!_

 _I do not own Harry Potter. Only my OC._

* * *

She regretted wearing her black and white stripped shirt as soon as she stepped onto platform 9 ¾.

It was almost as, if not more, crowded on the platform as it was in Diagon Alley a week ago when she had went with McGonagall. Add all the loaded trolleys, the anxious students, and the crying parents and it was definitely packed.

Alice had already said her goodbye to Remus earlier that morning. She was thankful for this, since she wouldn't have wanted to cry in front of everyone on the platform, or in other words, her future classmates. She was already going in with multiple signs over her head, such as "guaranteed Gryffindor", "pyromaniac", and "possibly murdered her family", and she didn't want to add "crybaby" to that quickly growing list.

Her stripped shirt definitely wasn't helping people look at her in a less menacing light. She looked like an escaped convict and Alice wondered where her mind was when she dressed herself this morning. Nobody spoke to her, not even the man who placed her things on the train for her. He kind of just stared at her the entire time.

With her ticket in hand, Alice simply sighed and waited patiently by one of the brick pillars in the station. A part of her wanted to get on the train and sleep for the next few hours, but she knew that she would be too agitated, both in a good way and a bad way. She wanted to see all the scenery, taste the food, and meet the other students. Maybe she would find some friends today.

She was a bit tired of being alone.

With her attention fixed on the train in front of her, Alice had failed to see the approaching trolley rolling dangerously close to where she stood. She saw the trolley just in time for it to roll over her foot.

Her jaw clenched and her eye began twitching.

The cart stopped only after it had ran over her foot, its driver pausing as well. Alice was looking down in pain, trying not to draw any attention to herself.

"Are you alright? You look a bit ill."

Alice let out a strained breath before looking up at the driver of the cart. She came face to face with a girl her own age with a wild mane of bushy brown hair and brown eyes to match. She seemed oblivious to the fact that she had injured Alice, and it was evident in her somewhat bossy voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alice managed to say, lifting up her foot gingerly to evaluate the damage. "Your cart took a detour over my foot, but it's quite alright."

"Oh, sorry about that," the girl said, looking at Alice with a curious gaze. "My name's Hermione Granger. And you are…?"

"Alice Fairfax."

"The descendant of Gryffindor himself!" Hermione cried in awe, taking Alice by surprise. That was not the reaction she was expecting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, it's incredible that we'll have an heir of one of the founders of Hogwarts in our year. I've read all about your family in _Modern Magical History_. I'm sorry about what happened to them, I really am."

Alice couldn't help but stare at the peculiar girl in front of her. Instead of diving into the tragedy that had destroyed her life over the past few years, she had spoken about Alice's family lineage instead. She almost felt grateful that Hermione had run over her foot in the first place.

This wonderful first encounter made Alice's heart soar.

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you as well," Alice said after a moment before looking back at the train. "Do you know when we'll be leaving?"

"They should be boarding us any minute now," Hermione said, looking at the train as well, only to throw Alice a glance moments after. "Wait right here! I'm going to load my things on board and I'll come right back."

Alice watched the girl disappear into the crowded sea of students and parents, a humorous expression lighting up her face. From only that little conversation, the young girl could tell that Hermione was bright girl. She apparently loved and read books just like Alice, if not more. She was a bit bossy, and extremely forward with her intentions. Alice could see the excitement in her eyes when she came back to where she had left the young Fairfax girl.

"Come on! They're letting us board! We need to find seats before all the cars are full!" Hermione yelled, causing a few heads to turn in her direction. Alice laughed nervously before jogging over and followed closely behind her new friend.

Many students were still saying their goodbyes to their families, making it somewhat easier for the two girls to find an open car. They had managed to get settled, the swarm of kids quickly began filling the halls of the train immediately afterwards. Before her excitement could devour her whole as she sat looking out the train window, Alice came to the realization that she had not seen Hermione's parents anywhere on the platform.

"Did you say goodbye to your family already?" Alice asked, looking over at the bushy-haired girl.

"Oh, yes I did. I said my goodbye before I ran through the entrance to platform 9 ¾," Hermione responded, a bit quieter than what Alice was expecting of her new friend. "They can't come through."

"Muggleborn?"

Hermione froze and peered at Alice in surprise, nodding her head slowly.

"Yes," she said, letting out a breath before changing the topic. "And who have you been living with these past few years?"

"My godfather."

"How has that been?"

"Difficult, but nice I suppose. Under the circumstances."

Hermione nodded once again, leaning back in her seat as the train began slowly pulling out of the station. Tearful yet joyful faces of families could be seen through the window, and Alice realized that many kids had theirs wide open, waving wildly back. The two girls had no one in particular to wave at, and in other words, had no reason to open their window and wave with them.

"It's only been a few months since I found out about all this," Hermione laughed softly, breaking the silence. "I learned all the spell books by heart, believe it or not. It wasn't an easy thing though, learning all that in a few months."

"That's very impressive," Alice commented, genuinely fascinated. "Can you cast any spells?"

"I've succeeded in the majority that I've tried."

"That's even more impressive."

"How about yourself?"

"Casting spells? Yeah, a few. My magic has been a bit temperamental but now that I finally have a wand of my own, hopefully they'll come out much better."

"So you've casted spells without a wand?"

"A few small ones, yes. Or I would borrow my godfather's wand. He didn't like that much, though."

Hermione stared at her for a long moment, almost as if she had been slapped in the face.

"Do you know how difficult _wandless_ magic is? And to even have control over it is-"

"Like I said, my magic is temperamental. Sometimes I can control it, sometimes I cannot." Alice interrupted her, worrying that the girl in front of her might blow a fuse.

A bump on the tracks startled both witches, causing the two to look out the window to see nothing but hills covered in pine trees. Below them, a lake could be found, and Alice watched as the sun hit it in just the right light to make it appear as if thousands of jewels lined the top of the water. They were on a bridge, and the height between the tracks and the water was quite high. Alice tried not to think about that.

The two girls ended up talking in small doses, while the rest of the time was spent watching the train race by the natural scenery in front of them. Alice didn't feel the need to constantly talk with Hermione, and that was nice. There wasn't an expectation to always have something to say or to quickly move on to the next topic. They would fall into comfortable silence, sometimes laughing while other times the conversation would just end, and one of them would pick up on something new a few minutes later.

It was simple, but extremely real for Alice. She had a new friend.

She was waiting for a specific topic to come up, and even when it did, she wasn't prepared.

"I read that a lot of people think you were the one responsible for the fire that killed your family." Hermione articulated, pulling Alice immediately out of her thoughts to look away from the window and at the girl across from her.

"Yeah, I got thrown in my town's jail the night it happened."

"Are you serious?"

Alice nodded.

"But how could you have done something like that?"

"I don't know, but some are convinced that I am the one responsible."

"Surely, not everyone."

"A good handful does."

"Well, I am not in that handful."

Alice stared at her new friend, a smile forming on her face. She felt that if she had Hermione with her, it would be a little more bearable to deal with that large handful of individuals who believed her to be guilty of the crime. It gave her more courage, and she looked forward to spending more time with this cleaver girl in front of her.

Before she could express her thanks, Alice's eyes passed over the entrance of their car for a second, only for them to fly back. To her surprised, multiple people could be seen standing outside their car, looking in on the two girls. Alice looked at Hermione in question as the door was flung open to reveal the faces of their visitors.

"Wow, it really is her!"

"The descendant of Gryffindor, here on the train with us!"

"Not to mention in our year."

"Why are you all here?" Hermione asked, more like demanded, their visitors.

A stunned silence followed as everyone looked at Hermione for the first time, as if they had just taken notice to her presence.

"Well, we heard that the Girl of Ember was on board."

"It's been spreading like wildfire all the way down the train."

"Along with Harry Potter, this train is full of famous faces."

Alice felt her stomach twist at the mention of the name she had been trying avoid for the past week. Her dreams of his incident seemed to be getting more and more vivid as the days passed. A part of her wanted to meet him, tell him how sorry she was for his loss, but another part of her wanted nothing more than to avoid him. Nothing about her dreams was normal.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Hermione said in a not-so-friendly tone. "But she's not an animal on display, so don't go-"

"Hermione, it's alright," Alice assured, attempting to calm her friend down before turning her attention to their visitors. "Its really is nice to meet you all. I'm Alice Fairfax, and this is Hermione Granger."

"I'm Seamus Finnigan." One of the boys said, his Irish accent thick.

"Dean Thomas." The other boy chimed in.

"My name's Parvati Patil, this is my sister Padma." One of the girls introduced herself, along with what looked like her twin sister.

There was a slight pause, as Alice looked at all the new faces in front of her. They seemed friendly, as there were no glares sent her way or hateful comments shared. In all, the group of students appeared to be a curious bunch, simply wanting to meet her.

"I still can't find him anywhere!" A voice cried from down the hall, which seemed to be getting closer. The group outside their car turned to look to see whom it was, only for a few faces to morph into grins.

"Still no luck, Neville?" Dean asked, the face of a pudgy looking boy appearing at their doorway.

"I can't believe I've lost him!" The boy Neville grieved, looking very much upset.

"What have you lost?" Alice inquired, causing the boy to turn and almost freeze at the sight of her.

"Alice Fairfax! So the rumours were true about you being on-"

"He's lost his frog, Trevor." Parvati explained, cutting the boy off.

"We can help you look if you want," Alice offered, looking over at Hermione in question. "I think we still have time before we arrive at Hogwarts."

"I suggest we put our robes on first before we go looking." Hermione advised, getting up from her seat.

"Agreed."

After a flurry of goodbyes, the group of students left the girls' car to go put on their robes as well. The two girls had agreed to have a final look for Neville's missing frog before they got to Hogwarts. They changed into their robes, which fit them both quite well. It felt weird for Alice to put them on, but it made her happy nonetheless.

"I'll go up this way, you go down the other way." Hermione announced before turning on her heel to go to the car beside their own.

Alice laughed softly at the girl's determination to find the frog, also turning on her heel to go to their neighbouring cars. With each question about the frog's location that she asked, Alice got two in return regarding who she was. Most people were rather friendly and kind when meeting her, while there was the occasional person who glared at her. She ignored it, asked her question again and again until she came upon the last car. When the occupants informed her that they had seen no frog, the young girl let out a defeated sigh.

Nobody had seen Trevor.

Walking at her own pace back in the direction of her car, Alice spotted Hermione a ways down talking to the occupants of another car. She had a feeling that her new friend had been talking to people about much more than Neville's frog, considering she hadn't made it that far down the train.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."

"All right then."

Alice's walking came to a halt by Hermione, who gave her an amused look as she turned her attention to inside the car. Two boys sat in the car, but Alice's attention was on the wand the red-haired boy had in his hand as well as the rat on his lap.

"Sunshine, daisies, buttermellow,

Turn this stupid fat rat yellow."

The boy waved his wand but nothing happened. The rat on his lap remained grey and sleeping.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" Hermione asked, looking very much confused as Alice chuckled at her reaction.

"Leave him alone, Herm-"

She felt like the wind had been kicked out of her. He was sitting there. Right across from the red-haired boy, mid-bite into one of the candies the trolley had been offering earlier. With a head of untidy jet-black hair, on his narrow face rested round-rimmed glasses and behind them lay startling green eyes that made Alice blink rapidly in panic. She had seen those eyes many times, way too many times. They were the same, just like his mother's had been.

She thought she was going to throw up when she saw the scar on his forehead.

What unsettled her even more, when she got over the initial shock, was the fact that he looked just as horrified as she felt. His eyes were wide, staring back into her own. It didn't feel real. She wished it wasn't real.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, causing Alice to immediately look down at the ground as she attempted to slow down her rapid pulse.

"Who are you two?" The redhead asked the two of them, oblivious to the thick tension in the train car.

"My name's Hermione Granger, and this," she said, pointing at Alice, who barely managed to look up, as she was still struggling to breathe. "This is Alice Fairfax."

"Bloody hell, so it is true?" The redhead gasped, looking at her with wide eyes. "I'm Ron Weasley, and this is-"

"Blimey, you're Harry Potter!" Hermione interrupted the boy, making Alice's stomach turn once again as her friends attention turned to the other occupant of the car. "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events if the Twentieth Century._ "

She was talking fast again, just like she had when she had first met Alice as well.

"Am I?" The black haired boy muttered, sounding a bit dazed.

"Goodness, you didn't know? I'd have found out everything I could have it was me," Hermione stated, letting in a much-needed breath. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor it sounds by far the best. I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…"

Alice had stopped listening after the mention of Gryffindor, only at that moment was she starting to get her breathing under control once again. Everything was too much; it was all happening at once. She hadn't even thought about the Sorting Ceremony until Hermione had mentioned it just then. Alice had been so caught up in other matters that she had completely forgot about what was bound to happen next. Her fate was about to be sealed in Gryffindor house.

"Well, we all know which house you're going into." Hermione concurred, pulling Alice out of her heavy thoughts.

The girl meekly looked at her friend, then at Ron, then the Boy Who Lived, before she simply turned and began walking down the aisle back to their car.

She could feel the tremors coming back.

* * *

 _ **Harry's Prospective**_

He couldn't move. Any words that he would've wanted to say were stuck in the back of his throat, almost as if they were chocking him. A pain had dug a hole inside his chest cavity, sending ice into his veins. He felt hot and cold at the same time. How was that even possible?

As soon as she had walked into his field of vision, he felt as if his soul had left his body. At that moment, he felt like everything around him was watching him, sucking the air out his lungs and pulling the ground out from underneath him.

Terrified was how he felt, and she looked the exact same way.

It was her, the girl from his nightmares. The one with the golden locks of hair and the disquieting grey eyes. The one that had ran through the burning house of gold and red with the most fearful look Harry had ever seen in somebody's eyes. The girl that had watched her family burn to death as a house collapsed on her.

How was she even still alive?

She looked identical to the girl from his nightmares, only a few years older. Her hair was slightly different as it hung long and straight against her robes, while in his dream it was much shorter and messier. The eyes were duplicates of the ones of the girl from his dream. The same stormy grey eyes that had him waking up multiple nights in his cupboard under the stairs, feeling as if the fire from the dream had continued burning his skin.

It was definitely her. Harry didn't have a doubt in his mind.

When the girl had failed to respond to the other's comment about house sorting, she had sent Harry one final look before disappearing down the hall of the train. The remaining girl, with the bushy brown hair, looked on as her friend left her. She appeared a bit startled, but she soon quickly turned her attention back on the boys.

"Anyways, I'm going to continue looking for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon." The girl named Hermione suggested before closing their car door and marching down to the next car.

Harry breathed in for the first time in what seemed like hours.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it." Ron said, looking back down disappointedly at Scabbers.

"Who was that?" Harry muttered and the redhead scrunched up his face in confusion.

"Not a clue, and I don't much care. I think it was Hermione?"

"Not her, the other one. The one that left first."

Ron finally looked up at him, his face morphing into that of surprised when he saw Harry's genuinely concerned and somewhat serious expression. After a moment, Ron's face switched into that of understanding.

"I suppose you wouldn't know, considering you don't know much about the wizarding world," Ron stated, tucking his wand back into his trousers. "That was Alice Fairfax, blood descendant of Godric Gryffindor himself. He was one of the founders of Hogwarts, very powerful wizard that one. Nobody thought that he'd had any children, but I guess they were wrong. She's been in the Daily Prophet quite a lot, though I can't say for anything good."

When Ron saw that Harry's face had only gotten more confused, the redhead let out a sigh and continued.

"The Fairfax house burned down a few years ago, killing everyone in her family with her as the exception. Everyone thought she'd done it, you know, killed them. There was a whole case and it took around a year for the Ministry to drop it, since there was no proof that she had or hadn't done it," Ron informed Harry. "She had pretty much disappeared from the wizarding world entirely until just recently."

Harry felt ill all over again. It really was her after all.

"She'll most likely get sorted into Gryffindor," Ron continued. "For me? I'm hoping the same. My mum and dad were in it, along with all my brothers. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin…"

Harry continued to ask more questions about the world he was about to enter and what it would hold, but the entire time he was distracted by the thought of this girl that would either make or break it all for him.

* * *

After what seemed like forever, the train had finally come to a stop. The sky had fallen dark, and Harry couldn't see much out of the windows anymore. Now fully dressed in their robes, the two boys managed to get through the crowd of eager students that were pretty much fighting to get off the train.

As they stepped onto the platform, Harry's eyes landed on the form of a familiar giant, a large lantern in hand.

"All right then! First years, this way please." Hagrid called out to the students as they came barreling out of the train to stare up at him with wide eyes. Harry caught a pair of eyes that didn't seem all that shocked, but more so fascinated by the sight in front of them all. He immediately looked away from the pair of grey eyes.

"Come on now. First years, don't be shy!" Hagrid called again as Harry and Ron approached the half giant. "Oh, hello Harry!"

"Hello Hagrid." Harry grinned up at the large man, as Ron seemed to lose his voice out of pure awe.

"Wow." Ron gaped, staring up at the man with the lantern.

"Come on, this way to the boats. Follow me." Hagrid called again, ushering everyone forward.

Harry and Ron had fallen into the crowd of first years that followed the half giant like chicks following a mother hen. It took a while to get everyone into boats, since there were only aloud a few students per boat. Once the duo got settled into a boat with two other boys who introduced themselves as Seamus and Dean, the boats began to move on their own, with Hagrid leading the way.

At first, there was nothing to be seen except for the moon in the sky and the lanterns hanging from their boats. It was quiet along the water, and Harry had been about to look down at his reflection when he heard a collective gasp from the students around him.

Perched atop a high mountain on the other side of the lake, it's windows shinning brightly in the night sky, was a large castle with multiple turrets and towers.

"If I know one thing for sure, you'll never forget the first time you see Hogwarts." Hagrid called from the front of the fleet of boats.

All Harry could do was stare at the castle in wonder and amazement, a just as equally awed Ron situated beside him.

"Wicked." Ron mumbled as Harry smiled happily.

Once everyone had managed to get their boats on shore, the entire group of first years took the set of stairs up the cliff side that lead to the castle. Harry managed to wave a quick goodbye to Hagrid before getting swept away with the tide of first years.

The trek up the side of the cliff was tiresome, but the satisfaction of seeing the entrance to the castle at the top was just as rewarding as it was awe inducing. The first years strode through the entrance together, walking up multiple stairs like a wave of ants. As they got to their third flight of stairs, Harry spotted a stern looking woman standing at the top in all green robes and a pointed hat to match.

She stopped tapping her fingers on the railing once everyone was stopped in front of her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall," she greeted them respectfully, looking around at all the new faces. "The start-of-term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room."

All the first years had ceased their talking either due to the importance of the information given to them or the intimidation in which her words were spoken.

"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points," the lady explained, eyeing each first year carefully. "At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope-"

"Trevor!" A boy yelled from behind Harry, rushing forward past him as he kneeled to the ground as if he were picking something up. When Harry heard a few croaks coming from the boy's hands, he realized that this was the boy that Hermione said had lost his pet frog.

The witch in green robes did not look particularly pleased at the fact that she was interrupted. The boy kneeling on the floor with his frog looked up at the woman and immediately realized his mistake. He quickly stood up and joined the group once again, his head hanging low.

"Sorry." The boy muttered as both Harry and Ron fought off the urge to laugh.

"I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours," the professor continued slowly. "The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a few minutes. Please wait here until I come back to retrieve you."

Professor McGonagall quickly turned on her heel and disappeared behind the large set of double doors that stood in front of the group of first years. After a quick moment of silence and idol chitchat begin, Harry felt a pair of eyes on him.

They were not the stormy grey ones he was expecting.

"So it's true than," a voice called from off to his left. "What they were saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

Harry turned his attention to the speaker, his eyes falling on a boy with bleach blond hair that was slicked back away from his face. His face was pulled up into a mild sneer as students began whispering about what the blond had said.

"This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," the blond nodded his head at the two large boys by his side, only to move in front of Harry and Ron. "And my name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

A laugh came from Ron's mouth, which caused the boys sneer to turn into a full on scowl of disgust,

"Think my name's funny, do you?" Draco asked, sending a pointed glare at the redhead. "I don't need to ask yours. Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley. My father told me that all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

Harry felt his chest tighten at the attempted insult thrown at his friend. He mustered up his own glare as Draco turned his attention back onto him.

"You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

The blond held out his hand to Harry, which only seemed to fuel his anger. However, he didn't know how, but he managed to answer calmly.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Harry said coolly.

Draco withdrew his hand and place it back in the pocket of his robs as he gave him another pointed and disappointed look.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said quite slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off-"

"Oh, would you just shut up?"

It appeared as if Draco was just as surprised as Harry at the sound of the new voice. Everyone turned their attention off to the side of the group, where a familiar head of golden hair stood, arms crossed and eyes glaring at Draco.

"What do you even know about the Weasleys and the Potters?" Alice Fairfax accused the boy, her grey eyes narrowed.

Draco seemed taken back by the sudden interruption, only to let out a soft chuckle moments later.

"And if it isn't the blood of Gryffindor in the flesh," He taunted as more whispers began spreading through the crowd of first years. "If you really must know, my father-"

"'My father this' and 'my father that'" Alice imitated the boy quite well in Harry's opinion. "Would you just shove off? You're making mine and everyone else's ears bleed."

"Why should I listen to a pyromaniac who murdered her family?"

All forms of whispering in the crowd of first years came to a halt and Harry felt his stomach drop. Hermione, who had been standing beside Alice, had thrown a hand over her mouth as she watched Draco with wide eyes. Ron had paled and was looking at Harry in a bit of panic.

Alice, on the other hand, had simply continued to stare at Draco. Harry wasn't completely sure how he could tell, but even though she had a cool exterior, he knew she was angry.

"Since you're so convinced I was the reason they died," Alice began calmly, still staring at Draco. She wasn't blinking much though. "What makes you think it was a good idea to pick a fight with a 'pyromaniac who murdered her family'?"

One look at Draco and Harry knew he wouldn't be able to answer her question. The blond was trying his best to hide the fact that he looked more than a little startled by her statement, not getting the reaction he had wanted. The faces that looked at Alice ranged from fearful to surprise, waiting for what Draco would say next.

But nothing ever came out.

Before anyone could say anything else, the large double doors opened once again as Professor McGonagall strode towards them.

"We're ready for you now," the professor said, eyeing both Alice and Draco carefully. "Follow me."

Draco was the first to move after the professor, Crabbe and Goyle following close behind him. The rest of the first years began their march towards the heavy double doors as Harry watched Alice closely, waiting for her to move. Ron stayed at his side while Hermione stayed at hers, silently waiting for the descendant of Gryffindor to move. When she did, her eyes met with Harry's for a brief moment before being dragged by Hermione through the double doors.

Harry had almost missed the burns on the floor where her feet had been only moments ago.

* * *

 _Introductions are always interesting, aren't they?_

 _I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm trying to stick to canon as much as I can, using both the movies and the books for my writing._

 _I'll try to get the next chapter up soon._

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	5. A Gold And Scarlet Fate

_Hello again!_

 _Here's another chapter and I'm currently working on the next one. Once again, I hope you all enjoy._

 _I do not own Harry Potter. Only my OC._

* * *

 _ **Alice's Prospective**_

She felt unnaturally warm to the point where it was almost painful. A part of her knew that she probably should have kept to herself when that awful boy was spewing garbage for words at the two boys, but she just couldn't bite her tongue. She thought she was prepared for what the boy Draco would reply with, but the amount of venom and disgust in his voice when he claimed that she murdered her parents was like a physical slap in the face. The fact that he genuinely believed she did it struck a painful cord in her chest.

Alice wasn't as prepared as she thought.

Feeling Hermione grasp the sleeve of her robe and pull her along, Alice came out of her daze. The group of first years were making their way through the set of large heavy doors into the Great Hall.

The two girls tried their best to keep their mouths from opening in pure awe. The large hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students sat. These same tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led them to the front and Alice could feel many pairs of eyes watching as they walked down the centre of the hall. To avoid all the unwanted attention, she turned her focus upwards and saw a black ceiling with twinkling stars.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, a History_." Hermione whispered from beside her.

Alice adored it. Everything about the Great Hall was simply magical.

Bringing her attention back to the ground, Alice watched as McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On its top, the professor placed a pointed wizards hat that appeared worn and extremely dirty.

 _Ah, the bane of her existence. The Sorting Hat._

Complete silence filled the room as the first years waited. Finally the hat seemed to twitch and a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth.

It began to sing:

 _"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me_

 _You can keep you bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head,_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

The entire hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. Alice's nerves were skyrocketing now, her stomach turning about uncomfortably. Hermione looked more enthusiastic than uneasy, which only made the Fairfax girl feel even more unnerved.

It was at this moment in time where Professor McGonagall pulled out a large scroll of paper.

"When I call your name, you will come forward to sit on the stool and put on the hat to be sorted," the professor articulated clearly. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with a pink face and blonde pigtails stumbled out of the group before sitting down and putting on the hat, its brim falling down over her eyes.

A beat of silence passed.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted.

The table on Alice's right began cheering as Hannah slowly made her way over to where the rest of the Hufflepuffs sat. Many of them patted her on the back.

"Bones, Susan!" McGonagall called.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat bellowed as Susan went to go sit with Hannah at the Hufflepuff table.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left began clapping as Terry joined his housemates, who appeared to welcome him warmly.

A girl by the name of Mandy Brocklehurst was also sent to the Ravenclaw table, but it was the next girl, Lavender Brown, who became the first Gryffindor. The table on the far left exploded with cheers and calls of celebration. Alice wondered if they would react the same way when her time came.

It was there where Alice began to worry that she would be separated from Hermione. While the rest of the first years seemed pleasant enough, she didn't have a clue if she would get along with them as well as she did with Hermione. They had already crossed the awkward question stage and were close enough now. She didn't want to start from scratch all over again with nobody at her side.

As she watched each first year go up one by one, Alice realized that sometimes the Sorting Hat would sort the student right away while others took minutes to decide. She figured she'd be one of the fast ones.

"Fairfax, Alice!"

Her name cut sharply through the air as the words passed through Professor McGonagall's lips. The chatter from the other students had died down as she slowly approached the stool and the hat that would decide her fate for the rest of her time at Hogwarts. Alice swallowed harshly before sitting down on the stool and placing the hat on her head and, essentially, over her eyes.

"Interesting…" A small voice whispered into her ears. "The blood of my creator flows through your veins. How interesting indeed. There is an obvious place to put you, but you seem to have many characterizes. A bright mind, for sure. You would do well in Ravenclaw. Your loyal and humble mannerisms would suit you well amongst the Hufflepuffs. Oh, and cunning. Very cunning. Slytherin would not be a bad option either. This is very difficult."

Alice was surprised that the hat was even _considering_ the other houses. She had expected to be placed right away in the house that thrived in her family heritage. There were options, she realized, and the thought made her feel weird.

Not in a good way.

"Your bravery and nerve appear to be much more evident in this mind of yours than you realize. Gold and scarlet are the colors that have weaved your fate. The place where you will thrive can be found in…GRYFFINDOR!"

The final word was announced to the entire hall, seeming as though the hat's voice echoed off the walls and through the entire castle. Alice didn't move for a second, taking in the silence that was pressing in on her. It was only moments after when she heard the chant of her name that she lifted the hat off of her head.

"Fairfax! Fairfax! Fairfax!" Many of the Gryffindor students were banging on the table while others were stood up and clapping. Alice tried her best to ignore the warm, pleasant feeling in her chest as she slowly approached her table, a cheer erupting and multiple pats hitting her back when she finally sat down.

"Welcome to Gryffindor," a taller boy said from beside her as he held out his hand. "Percy Weasley, a prefect."

Alice shook his hand and silently thanked him for his calm demeanour in the energized behaviour that could be found at the Gryffindor table.

"No offense, Girl of Ember-" A voice said, belonging to a red haired boy who remained across from Percy, finally sitting down.

"But we were hopping you'd be put into Slytherin." An identical boy with the same features as the other continued.

"The irony would have been wonderful."

"Would have given your family a real start."

Alice saw Percy give the twins a pointed look, as they seemed to realize the fault in their words. However, the boys had a point and a bubble of laughter seemed to erupt from her throat, startling the three boys all together.

She felt mildly mortified as she clamped a hand over her mouth.

"See, brother?" One of the twins said to Percy.

"She has a sense of humour."

"How refreshing." The both of them said at the same time.

Percy rolled his eyes at the two before turning his attention to Seamus Finnigan, who had been sorted into Gryffindor as well.

"I think we forgot to introduce ourselves, Fred." One of the twins said, turning their attention back to Alice.

"It appears we have, George."

"Weasley twins?" Alice asked, the both of them tilting their heads to the side.

"How'd you know?" They both asked simultaneously.

"You called Percy 'brother'."

The twins looked at each other before looking back at Alice with amused expressions on their faces.

"Clever girl, isn't she?" George said to his brother.

"Usually it's the red hair that gives it away." Fred answered, turning their attention back to the sorting ceremony and Alice did the same.

She looked back just in time to see Hermione going up to the stool and placing the hat on her head. A few painful seconds went by as Alice's heart beat rapidly in her chest before the hat's voice called out into the hall.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Grinning like a fool, Alice cheered with the rest of her house, watching as Hermione ran over and sat beside her.

She even got a hug.

"I'm so glad we're in the same house!" Hermione cried, a large grin resting on her face and Alice mirrored her expression exactly. "The hat said I would do good in Ravenclaw and considered putting me there, but it said I would achieve greatness in Gryffindor. I was so nervous my hands wouldn't stop shaking…"

Alice continued to listen to Hermione rant on about being sorted, a smile still resting on her lips as her chest finally felt normal for the first time all day. Everything was falling into place slowly. She had a new friend, met many kind people, was told by the Sorting Hat that she could have easily been in any house, and was greeted warmly by the house of gold and scarlet. The content in her stomach felt odd and out of place to her, but she enjoyed it while she could.

"Look, it's Harry Potter. He's going to be sorted next." Hermione whispered to Alice, pulling the blonde out of her daze.

Her grey eyes fell on the black-haired boys form as he sat down awkwardly on the stool at the front of the now silent Great Hall. His glasses disappeared under the brim of the hat and Alice held her breath as the seconds passed by painfully slow. Everyone was waiting to see which house he would call home.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Alice wasn't exactly surprised.

She clapped with the rest of her cheering house as the boy made his way over to their table. Percy greeted him with a vigorous handshake as the Weasley twins shouted "We got Fairfax and Potter! We got Fairfax and Potter!" and Alice couldn't help but laugh at their behaviour. Harry sat down opposite of Alice and Hermione, looking absolutely exhausted but nonetheless content. If anything, he looked relieved.

"Draining, isn't it?" Alice had said without really thinking about who she was talking to. However, Harry had looked up immediately and met her eyes. He appeared just as surprised as she felt, but gave her a nod in agreement and let out a nervous laugh.

The announcement of another student being sorted into Gryffindor grabbed both their attention and Alice watched as Ron Weasley sauntered over and sat down tiredly beside Harry. Percy reached over to give the younger Weasley a pat on the back, a congratulatory "well done" falling from the older brother's lips.

Alice glanced towards the front of the hall, only to watch as Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll of names and took the Sorting Hat away. Feeling her stomach grumble slightly, Alice's eyes fell on the empty gold plate in front of her. The thought of food made her mouth water but her attention was once again brought to the front of the Great Hall and she watched as Albus Dumbledore himself stood from his seat. The old wizard beamed down at the students as he opened his arms wide in a welcoming manner. It appeared as if nothing made him happier than seeing all of his students' faces.

"Welcome!" He said, voice reaching every corner of the hall. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Let the feast begin!"

Many mouths in the room had let out gasps before Alice had realized what had happened. The previously empty plates on all the tables were now piled with more food than she could even process. There were plates of roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, and gravy.

Glancing up at the faces of those around her as looks of awe and wonder filled everyone's eyes. She met those of Hermione's and both girls grinned from ear to ear before filling their plates with a little bit of everything. Placing a piece of roast beef in her mouth, Alice could only close her eyes and hum in delight at the flavours that were tickling her taste buds. Hermione was eating away at her pork chops while Ron was simultaneously enjoying two legs or roast chicken at once. Harry, on the other hand, was still staring down at the food on his plate, almost in disbelief.

On Alice's left, Neville sat eating some boiled potatoes. On the other side of the shy boy sat Seamus and Dean, the two boys that Alice had met earlier.

"I'm half 'n half," Seamus explained, looking back and forth between Dean and Neville. "Me dad's a muggle, mum's a witch. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out."

Alice laughed quietly to herself at the Irish boy as she looked back at her now almost empty plate. She found herself shocked, not realizing that she had eaten the majority of the contents already.

"Say, Percy," she heard Harry begin speaking to the prefect. "Who's that teacher talking to professor Quirrell?"

"Oh, that's professor Snape. Head of Slytherin house." Percy replied. Alice glanced over at the head table, unsure of who these two teacher's were but continued to listen anyways.

"What's he teach?" Harry asked.

"Potions, but everyone knows it's the Dark Arts he fancies," Percy stated. "He's been after Quirrell's job for years."

 _Well that isn't unsettling…_

Still not speaking a word, Alice turned her attention to the head table once again, this time her eyes meeting with McGonagall's. The older witch gave the Fairfax girl a slow nod while her eyes gave off that silent twinkle that Alice had become so fond of. The blonde haired girl gave the professor a soft smile in return.

Hearing a soft cry of surprise coming from across from her, Alice looked back at the table to see a head of a ghost floating where the plate of chicken remained, along with a pale, mildly horrified Ron.

"Hello!" The man said to everyone, before looking at Ron. "How are you? Welcome to Gryffindor."

As if on queue, multiple ghosts began appearing around the Great Hall. Some came down from the ceiling while others appeared through walls or tables. There were four ghosts that caught her attention right off the bat. First, there was a rather large ghost who seemed to exert a content aura along with his jolly smile. Considering that he was floating around the Hufflepuff table, she assumed that the ghost was the Fat Friar. Second, a beautiful but sad woman floated near the Ravenclaw table, her hair hanging to her waist while her eyes were full of sorrow. Alice understood that this ghost was that of the Grey Lady, Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw. The third, and probably the most grizzly of them all, was a ghost that sat beside Draco Malfoy. If it weren't for the fact that the ghost was sitting at the Slytherin table, the blank staring eyes, the gaunt face, and the robes stained with silver blood would have told her that the ghost was that of the Bloody Baron.

The last ghost, whom floated in front of her, was the last of the four.

"Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington." Alice mumbled out loud as everyone turned to look at her, including the ghost himself.

"Why yes!" Sir Nicholas answered, a smile on his face. "You are a new Gryffindor, are you not? How is it you know who I am?"

"My family talked about you from time to time."

"Your family?" The ghost questioned, staring at her in confusion.

"My last name is Fairfax, sir." She replied, to which the ghost's face lit up with wonder.

"The daughter of Violet and Colin, how lovely!" Sir Nicholas cried. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I see that you're carrying on the family legacy. Marvelous!"

Alice gave the man a half-hearted smile, to which most people around her seemed to notice. Thankfully, it was Percy who spoke up.

"Sir Nicholas, how was your summer?" He asked the ghost, who floated up out of the table.

"Dismal. Once again, my request to join the headless hunt has been denied."

The Gryffindor ghost gave a short sigh, which made Alice feel a little bad for the man. While she would consider it a good thing to still have one's head attached, she supposed it was different for him as a ghost.

"I know you!" Ron spoke up, eyes wide with understanding. "You're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind." The ghost replied.

"'Nearly' headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Hermione asked, causing Alice to give her a sideways glance, dread filling her stomach.

"Like this." Sir Nicholas answered, reaching his arm up and grabbing a hold of his right ear. Before she could bring herself to look away, the ghost's whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder. Ron let out a cry while Hermione closed her eyes, almost as if she regretted asking her question. Both Harry and Alice continued to stare painfully at the half beheaded ghost before Sir Nicholas swung his head back into the proper place between his shoulders.

"I think I've lost my apatite." Alice sighed, pushing her plate away from her.

Much to her and everyone else's luck at the Gryffindor table who had seen way too much of Sir Nicholas, Percy called for them to follow him out of the Great Hall. Walking through a few corridors, Alice and Hermione stuck close together whist Harry and Ron appeared attached at the hip.

"Gryffindors, follow me please," Percy called out to them. "Keep up. Thank you."

Ascending a small set of stairs, their group of first years came to a stop at the sight in front of them. Multiple staircases lined the walls and bridged across the gaps between them, occasionally moving and changing their path. There must have been at least a hundred of them and all Alice could do was gap in awe at them.

"This is the most direct path to the dormitories," Percy explained to the group of first years. "Keep an eye on the staircases. They like to change."

Alice was getting a bit dizzy watching the staircases shifting position up above her, needing to steady herself using the railing in front of her.

"Keep up, please, and follow me," Percy called to the group. "Quickly now, come on. Come on."

The first thing she noticed as they were climbing the stairs was the fact that the pictures were moving. Alice had seen moving photographs in the Daily Prophet her father would read in the mornings and occasionally in books, but never ones as large as the ones in front of her.

"That pictures moving!" Neville exclaimed as the group began moving along one of the staircases.

"Look at that one, Harry." Ron said, the two boys looking at a picture of a woman dressed in a white gown, who bowed to them as they passed.

Many more excited cries could be heard within their group as they continued along with Percy still hurrying them to follow along. She felt sleepy now that her stomach was full of wonderful food and the walk was only making her fatigue more evident. Her feet were aching a little bit but she didn't mind it much. Plus, Hermione was keeping her awake by filling her head with the many Hogwarts facts she had in her pocket.

It was only when they came to a halt in a hallway that Alice refocused her eyes and looked up form the ground. In front of Percy at the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" She asked.

"Caput Draconis." Percy answered and the group of first years watched as the portrait opened up to reveal a door behind it.

They all followed Percy through the door hurriedly. Once inside, they were greeted to the Gryffindor common room. The room was round and cozy, with multiple comfy-looking chairs and couches. A chess table remained off to the side and a few pictures, though unmoving, could be seen along the walls. It had a warm glow and feel about it that made Alice's heart soar. There was even a large fireplace that appeared to tie the whole room together.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room," Percy spoke to them. "Boys' dormitory is upstairs to the left. Girls, same on your right. You'll find that all of your belongings have already been brought up."

The two groups split up and were shown to their proper dorms. Thankfully, both Alice and Hermione were sharing a dorm together, along with three other girls. One of them was Parvati Patil, one of the girls that Alice and Hermione had met on the train. Her twin sister had been sorted into Ravenclaw and she seemed a bit torn up about it. The other was a girl by the name of Lavender Brown, the first student to be sorted into Gryffindor among their year. She was currently comforting Parvati, though she talked a bit too much for Alice's liking.

Sure enough, as they entered their dorm, all of their luggage had been placed beside their assigned beds. Five four-posters hung with deep red velvet curtains and Alice moved towards the one where her luggage was placed. If she hadn't heard the 'meow' come from her bed, Alice would have sat the small bundle of fur that she'd grown so close to over the past week.

Moving the curtains out of the way to look at the bed, Alice spotted Scarlett sitting cutely in the middle of the sheets. The cat came trotting over to her as Alice sat down to pet the small feline.

"Hello, you." Alice said, rubbing under the kitten's chin and earning a few purrs.

"Alice, you didn't tell me you had a cat!" Hermione exclaimed, thrilled with the presence of the animal in front of her. She reached a hand out to Scar, who sniffed her knuckles before rubbing her head against them.

Hermione beamed at the cat.

"Aw, it's so tiny! What a cute kitty!" Lavender squealed, only for Scar to jump away from the loud girl. When she'd reached out to pet the cat, it simply hissed at her, much to Lavender's disappointment.

Without really much else to say, the fatigue had finally settled into their systems and the girls got ready for bed. With her pajamas on and Scarlett tucked in by her side, Alice stared at the top of her bed. A part of her missed seeing that familiar pattern of the lion on her ceiling from her now burned down home. She'd hated it for so long, and now came to realize that hate was uncalled for. For the moment, Alice had made peace with her placement at Hogwarts for the first time in years. She'd been placed in Gryffindor because of who she was, not because of who's blood ran through her veins. While that did play a part, it was obvious that it wasn't the whole story. Half of it was in her veins and the other was in her heart.

The thought made her cry, and she wasn't exactly sure why. She figured she wouldn't understand for a while.

* * *

 _And the Sorting Ceremony is complete!_

 _I'll see you guys with a new chapter soon._

 _Cheers,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	6. Transfigured Minds

_Hello again!_

 _Shoutout to the people who favourited/followed the story! Thank you so much to Chuu112, DONT INJURE THE GINGER, DarkDust27, HigherAngel, ZabuzasGirl, amgallagher0, benjamindh, gwynethkyra, something526, ArielLux, Belladonna Dixon, and RoamingBunni._

 _I want to thank ZabuzasGirl for leaving a review as well. I'm glad you're enjoying, love!_

 _While it might not seem like a big deal, these things give a socially anxious girl a smile and another reason to keep writing._

 _Anyways! Onto the story. I stayed up late writing this one so I apologize if there are a few grammatical mistakes._

 _Enjoy~_

* * *

To say that the week had been busy and tiring would have been an understatement. Classes had started the day after they'd all arrived at Hogwarts and the professors didn't waste any time getting to the core of their courses. Alice had been surprised how she'd managed to attend each class on time, though she had Hermione to thank for that. The girl was up at the most unearthly hours of the morning, which of course would wake the Fairfax girl as well. Alice was excited about her classes, but not to the point where she lost sleep over it.

One of their first classes had been Herbology, which was located in the greenhouse behind the castle. Professor Sprout, a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her greying hair, taught the subject. She explained to them how to take care of the strange plants and fungi and what they were used for. The witch was extremely kind and nurturing to her students, Alice finding out from Parvati that Sprout was, in fact, Head of Hufflepuff house.

History of Magic was another one of their first classes. While it was interesting, it was definitely dense and Professor Binns didn't explain it with the most enthusiasm either. Being the only professor at Hogwarts that was a ghost, the man kept getting names confused. On more than one occasion, Alice had to clarify to her fellow students what was even happening.

It was only when they had Charms class that one of Alice's professors had made a big deal about her presence as well as Harry's. Professor Flitwick was the tiniest professor of them all. The wizard had to stand in a pile of books to see over his desk. When he had realized that both Alice and Harry were in his class, he gave an excited squeak and toppled off of his books.

However, Alice's favourite class had been Transfiguration. Even if it was taught by Professor McGonagall, she found the subject extremely interesting anyways.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said to the class. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

One of the first things Professor McGonagall did was changed her desk into a pig and back again. Alice knew that they wouldn't be learning anything quite that complex as of yet, but it got her even more motivated than she had been before. The older witch had left the class to write some intricate notes down. Alice had only realized when she'd moved to get more ink from her pot that McGonagall had changed into a cat. The Fairfax girl was blown away at the idea of changing a human into an animal, though that seemed way too complex for Transfiguration.

Alice came to understand that McGonagall must be an Animagus.

While everyone continued writing and silence filled the air, the doors of their classroom flew open to reveal a very late Harry and Ron.

"Made it," Ron mumbled, both boys out of breath. "Can you image the look on McGonagall's face if we were late?"

Alice laughed bitterly at the comment as the professor changed back into her human form, much to the surprise of the two boys.

"That was bloody brilliant." Ron said in amazement with an astonished Harry by his side.

"Oh, thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall said, looking between the two boys. "Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch? That way one of you might be on time."

"We got lost." Harry stated, which was completely plausible.

"Then perhaps a map?" The older witch questioned. "I trust that you wouldn't need one to find your seats."

With the two boys seated and a few explanations regarding the notes, McGonagall gave each student a match and asked them to turn it into a needle. There were many things to keep in mind while doing Transfiguration; one had to take into account the intended transformation, the bodyweight, the viciousness, wand power, and of course, concentration. Alice's first attempt had been fruitless, realizing that she had been too hesitant in her casting. With a little more concentration and determination, the small match in her hand had become silver and pointed.

"Well done, Miss Fairfax." McGonagall praised her as the young girl continued to stare in surprise at the needle. Hermione looked at her in awe before turning her attention back to her own match, much more resolute now than before.

By the end of the class, it was only Alice and Hermione who had successfully changed their matches into needles. It still shocked Alice that she'd correctly done something before Hermione. Her friend was brilliant, one of the smartest people she knew. While she managed to keep up fairly well with the intelligent girl, Alice always came second in her mind compared to Hermione.

A class that everyone looked forward to, including Alice, was Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by Professor Quirrell. As soon as she'd stepped into class, Alice felt there was something off about the man. Besides the fact that his whole classroom smelt of garlic and that he claimed to have fought a zombie over the summer, the young girl couldn't help but feel that everything about Quirrell was a façade.

Luckily for Alice, it was finally Friday. With a week filled of waking up with Hermione at the most unacceptable hours of the morning, trying to figure out what in the world was Argus Filch's problem, and getting accustomed to the new faces and classes, Alice was pleased to see it come to a close. She was currently sitting in the Great Hall with Hermione, sipping on pumpkin juice and enjoying her friend's company. The Weasley twins were off to her left talking about jinxing one of the boy's toilets to spray anyone who flushed it. On her right, a little ways down, sat Ron and Harry. Both boys looked awfully tired, and Alice felt their pain.

"What classes do we have today?" Alice asked Hermione, who looked up from her book.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins."

Alice frowned deeply.

It wasn't so much the fact that they shared the class with Slytherin house, but rather the people in it. She knew that she would see that awful boy Draco and his posse.

"Snape teaches it, right?" Alice questioned.

"Yes." Hermione answered, her attention back on her book.

"And he's head of Slytherin house?"

"Correct."

"Wonderful."

Hermione glanced up at her, knowing that Alice was dreading the thought of the next few hours.

"At least we have the afternoon off," the brown-haired girl stated. "That means we have time to do as we please. I, for one, am going to use the time to go over my notes if you'd like to join me."

"Gladly, but I'm going to go speak with Professor McGonagall first," Alice said, looking up at the Head Table. "Hopefully she has some spare time before her afternoon classes."

"I'm sure she will. She seems to like you quite a lot."

Alice didn't answer, not exactly sure if what Hermione said was true. Despite whether or not the older witch liked her, there was something on the young girl's mind that wouldn't settle. She wanted answers and she figured the professor would provide some.

The two girls packed up their things and began making their way to their Potions class. Harry and Ron had noticed them leave and began packing up as well. While she was looking forward to learning, Alice didn't want anything to do with the Slytherins. She hoped that Professor Snape wouldn't be as cruel as she'd imagined.

The classroom was dimly lit and the majority of their Slytherin classmates had already found their seats. Long tables lined with bubbling cauldrons and some other metal utensils had Alice wondering where the professor was, but she shook her head before taking a seat between Ron and Hermione.

They waited a few moments, partaking in idle chitchat with one another. Alice had began having a conversation with Ron, which started by Alice laughing at the face the Weasley boy had made when he looked into the bubbling cauldron. He'd told her about each one of his siblings; Bill Weasley was the oldest of them all and worked as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Bank. Then there was Charlie, the second oldest, who was currently studying dragons in Romania. Alice had already met Percy and the twins, knowing quite a bit about them from only simple conversations. Ron told her that he was the second youngest, and that his younger sister, Ginny, was the only girl.

Alice immediately felt bad for the poor girl.

They had somehow gotten on the topic of chess, to which Ron explained how much he loved the game. Alice told him of all the times she'd beaten her godfather at wizard's chess and Ron declared that he would beat her in the game before the Christmas holidays. She looked forward to it.

Before either of them could move on to a different topic, the door of the classroom swung open and in walked Professor Snape.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class," the professor stated as he moved swiftly to the front of the room. "As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making."

The Fairfax girl knew she'd been right to dread this class.

"However, for those select few," Snape said, his eyes looking directly at the Slytherins. "Who posses the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."

Alice looked over at Hermione who, even though appeared to be afraid of Snape as well, was still entranced by the endless potions and brews to learn.

"Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts with abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention." Snape said harshly, his attention now turned onto Harry who appeared to be writing notes.

Thankfully, Hermione nudged the black-haired boy, who finally looked up at Snape and realized it was him the professor was talking about.

"Mr. Potter," Snape began, moving closer to the desks. "Our new celebrity. Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered Root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?"

Hermione's hand shot straight up while Harry remained quiet. He obviously didn't know the answer to Snape's question.

"You don't know? Okay let's try again," Snape kept pushing. "Where would you look if I asked you to find me a Bezoar?"

Once again, Hermione raised her hand and Harry shook his head.

"I don't know, sir." He said to the professor.

"What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?" Snape asked again.

At this point, Alice came to the conclusion that the professor was just being flat out mean. It was clear that Harry had no idea what any of these were, but still continued to pester him to try and humiliate him.

And, of course, Alice couldn't keep quiet.

"Powdered Root of Asphodel and an infusion of Wormwood together make Draught of Living Death, the most powerful sleeping potion. A Bezoar is a stone, which is taken from the stomach of a goat and will save someone from most poisons. As for the final question, Monkshood and Wolfsbane are from the same plant, which also goes by the name of Aconite."

The room had grown silent. Once again, Alice had failed at keeping her mouth shut, but she knew once she said anything at all that she would need to stand by it. Staring at Snape with her eyes like silver lightning, Alice watched as the potion's teacher simply raised an eyebrow at her.

"Miss Fairfax, our other celebrity," Snape stared at her. "While I'm impressed with your knowledge, I'd prefer for you to raise your hand and patiently wait, not call out whenever you please."

"My apologies, professor." Alice nodded, turning her attention back to her desk and remaining quiet for the rest of the lesson.

While Snape had stopped picking on Harry, he moved his attitude towards the rest of the Gryffindors Putting everyone into pairs and setting them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils, Alice had been gladly paired with Hermione. She knew the bushy-haired girl would give her crap about speaking up to a teacher after class, so Alice tried her best to focus on the task at hand.

Snape circled each table closely, sweeping around with his black cloak. The wizard would criticize even the smallest things about how they were crushing their snake fangs wrong or getting off by one number when it came to weighing their dried nettles. When it came to the Slytherins, Snape praised them all for their potion-making abilities. It didn't help when Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a warped blob of metal and their potion seeped across the stone floor. Everyone was up on their stools trying to avoid it while Neville moaned as large red boils covered his arms and legs. He must have spilled the potion on himself.

Of course, Snape yelled at the poor clumsy boy and ordered for Seamus to take him to the hospital wing. Once the two were gone, Snape rounded on Harry and Ron, chewing them out for not noticing that Neville had misread his instructions. Knowing that the logic was completely absurd, Alice managed to bite her tongue with a concerned Hermione holding onto her arm. Even her friend was telling her to keep to herself.

When class had finally ended after what seemed like forever, Alice bid Hermione goodbye in search of McGonagall. Her bushy-haired friend told the young Fairfax girl to meet her in the library after she was done with the professor of Transfiguration.

Quickly making her way to the Transfiguration classroom, Alice could only hope that McGonagall was there. It was rather hectic, since everyone was changing classes. The stairs and hallways were packed to the walls with students from every year and all she could do was carefully wade through them all.

Much to Alice's relief, Professor McGonagall was still in her classroom. The witch was speaking to an older student, most likely about homework that had been assigned. Alice waited patiently by the door until the student had left, leaving only Alice and the professor behind.

"Ah, Alice," McGonagall acknowledged her presence as the younger witch walked further into the classroom. "How was your first week of lessons?"

"It went rather well. You'll be pleased to know that your class is one of my favourites." She responded, smiling at the professor.

"You do seem to have a knack for Transfiguration, my dear. Passed down from your father, I suppose."

Alice blinked a few times, not expecting her father to come up in their conversation.

"My father was good at Transfiguration?" The young witch questioned.

"One of the best I'd ever seen," McGonagall recalled, smiling softly. "It was easy to see how much he loved it. It irritated your mother to no end, considering that she wasn't as gifted as him."

"She was bad in the subject?"

"Not necessarily. Violet was about average in Transfiguration, but her work with Potions was rather incredible."

Alice smiled sadly at the thought of her parents. They had never told her anything about their personal experiences at Hogwarts. Sure, they spoke of the school in general, but never shared any memories. Alice didn't even know how they'd met.

"Is there a reason why you've come to see me?" McGonagall questioned, directing the conversation away from the girl's dead parents.

"Ah, yes," Alice nodded, coming out of her daze. "I had questions regarding you being an Animagus."

The professor appeared taken back.

"You know that doesn't come up until third year Transfiguration-"

"I figured it wouldn't be taught for a while," Alice explained. "But I'm still very curious. I don't know much about it, and I was hoping you could recommend any readings."

McGonagall remained quiet for a moment, her eyes studying Alice carefully as she weighed the options.

"Promise me you won't do anything as of yet and that you will only _read_ about it." The professor finally said, still looking at the young girl.

"Of course." Alice replied.

"Becoming an Animagus is an extremely dangerous process if it is done incorrectly."

"I figured as such."

Letting out a sigh, the professor turned to her desk and grabbed her quill, scribbling down a few words onto a piece of parchment. Once completed, she turned back to Alice and handed it to her.

"There are a few books in the Transfiguration section that go over the process and dangers of the art of becoming an Animagus," McGonagall explained as Alice looked down at the parchment in her hand. "Look for the book with the dark green leather cover. I found it to be the most useful."

"Thank you, professor." Alice smiled softly as she began walking to the door.

"Don't waste time that is reserved for studying looking at those books! We can't have your marks dropping." McGonagall called out to her and Alice laughed softly.

"You know me better than that, professor!" She replied as she ran out of the classroom and down the hall.

Alice had practically sprinted to the library, her excitement evident to those around her as she sped by. She saw Fred and George sitting by the courtyard, most likely planning their next prank. They'd heard her fast footsteps and looked up at her.

"Fairfax! Where are you going?" Fred yelled out to her as she continued running by.

"Why are you in such a rush?" George commented quickly after.

"Going to the library!" Alice called back, to which the twin's faces fell.

"And to think she was going to do something exciting." The both of them said.

"Don't you two have class?" The young girl questioned.

"Possibly." They said simultaneously.

Alice let out a laugh as she waved goodbye to them and rounded the corner. Walking through a few more corridors and she finally ended up at the school's library. The place was absolutely fantastic. The walls were lined with books with the shelves running up all the way to the ceiling. The light coming in from the windows currently lighted the library; while at night small candlesticks would float about. Some books would calmly glide through the air above her head, but in some cases one had to watch out for any books coming their way. There had been many times were students had been hit by charmed books.

Deciding to hit the Transfiguration section before going to find Hermione, Alice walked through a few rows of books until she found what she was looking for. Looking through the shelves, she pulled out the books that McGonagall had written down. However, she searched and searched for the dark green leather bound book the professor had told her about. It was only when she'd looked straight up did she see the book high up on one of the shelves. Well, she hoped it was the book she was looking for. Deciding not to try to use magic to get it down, Alice climbed up one of the rolling ladders near by and climbed to the high shelves. Once at the top, she reached out and took ahold of the leather bound book, flipping through the first few pages.

Bingo.

Descending the later slow, Alice got to the ground safely and in one piece. Placing the bound book on to of her others and bringing them into her arms, she was finally ready to go find Hermione.

She didn't know whether she'd turned too suddenly or just not paying attention, but a body collided with her. Alice let out a small yell of surprise, somehow keeping a hold on her books as she looked at the person who'd ran into her. It was a boy who appeared at least two or three years ahead of Alice, standing quite tall and wearing the school uniform. The yellow and black tie around his neck told her that he was a Hufflepuff.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" The boy asked, placing a hand on her arm.

Alice looked up at him and met his eyes. He was very handsome, his facial features chiseled quite nicely and his hair was messy in a cute sort of way. It took Alice a moment to respond.

"Yes, I'm alright. Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." She explained, adjusting her grasp on the books in her arms.

"I ran into you, no need to apologize," he said, looking down the shelves of books. "My friends were messing about and chasing me so I ought to go. Again, sorry about that."

"It's alright. Have fun running around Hogwarts." Alice said jokingly, to which the boy smiled softly before jogging out of sight.

With a sigh, Alice realized she'd kept Hermione waiting for while now and quickly sped off in search of her friend. After searching for a few minutes, she found her bushy-haired friend sitting by one of the desks with her nose in a book on Herbology. Hermione had looked up and inquired about why she'd taken so long, Alice stating that her conversation with McGonagall had taken longer than she'd expected. A huff escaped her friend's mouth before Hermione turned her attention back to her book and let Alice be. As far as Alice knew, Hermione hadn't even noticed the books that she had brought with her.

Alice was glad, because she wasn't exactly sure what to say in response if Hermione actually asked some questions. The Fairfax girl had hopes in her stomach that she was afraid of becoming too high.

* * *

After studying for pretty much the whole afternoon, the two girls packed up their belongings and headed back to the Great Hall for dinner. The food was just was wonderful as it had been all week, everyone filling their stomach with whatever dish was present at the table. Apparently Ron had let it slip to the twins that Alice enjoyed playing wizard's chess, automatically causing the brothers to challenge the young girl to a few rounds after supper. While she felt quite tired, Alice couldn't resist the idea of a good challenge. It had been a few weeks since she had played and she was practically dying to get back into it.

The Weasleys were almost as bad as Remus.

Well, Alice assumed they would be good under different circumstances. The girl had been playing since the age of four and had only been beaten a few times in her life. Ron had gone first and was probably the best of the bunch, putting up a fight to try and take the win. When she had beaten him, the twins had teased him.

"Blimey, Ron."

"I can't believe you got beat by a girl."

"Shut up," Ron growled. "Why don't you have a go, then? If you think you can beat her."

George had sat down first and Alice had beaten him in ten moves. Still determined to best her, Fred went after his twin. The second twin had done better than the first, but his King was still destroyed brutally by her Queen.

"Bloody hell?" Fred questioned, looking down at the board in confusion.

Hermione had been sitting in one of the chairs near the fireplace reading but was quickly distracted by the sounds and yelled of confusion coming from the Weasley brothers. She'd moved to beside Alice, sitting down on the arm of the chair as the twins went to go look for other Gryffindors to try and defeat Alice.

The twins had returned with a few older students and practically forced them to play Alice in wizard's chess. She played Oliver Wood, who was Captain and Keeper of the Gryffindor team. After defeating him, Alice played Angelina Johnson, who was a Chaser on the Quidditch team with Wood. With another win in her pocket, Lee Jordan was next, who often commentated at Quidditch games.

A crowd had gathered by then, student after student sitting down to go a round with Alice. She was getting tired, but somehow managed to beat person after person. The twins were practically tearing out their orange hair while Hermione had been cheering at Alice's side the whole time.

"Can I please go to bed now, you guys?" Alice whines, looking over at the Weasley brothers.

"No!" They all said, to which Alice groaned loudly.

"I don't think anyone's going to beat her anytime soon. Let her get some rest."

Alice looked up at the sound of the new voice, only to have her eyes fall on Harry. She hadn't even noticed that he'd been watching, nor did she know how long he'd been standing at the front of the crowd. She'd been so focused on the chessboard that she'd failed to see him standing amongst everyone else.

"Harry's right. We'll have another tournament later." Hermione said, ushering Alice to stand up.

As her bushy-haired friend made her way through the crowd, Alice paused to look at Harry.

"Thank you." She half laughed half sighed and the boy gave her a soft smile.

Not really sure what else to say, Alice turned and followed Hermione through the crowd and up into their dormitory. Lavender and Parvati were still away, most likely gossiping about something they considered to be worthy of their time. Hermione stayed in bed reading while Alice got ready to sleep. Curling up with Scarlett under the sheets, a realization came over the young girl.

Harry Potter wasn't as terrifying as her mind had made him out to be.

* * *

 _Chapter Complete!_

 _I'm sure you all can guess who the Hufflepuff boy is that Alice ran into in the library, but I'm going to keep that on the down low for a while._

 _Again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can. I don't want to rush it and have it turn out all sloppy. I want to give you guys something that's actually worth reading lol._

 _Feel free to leave any feedback._

 _I'll update soon,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	7. Twin Nightmares

_Hello hello!_

 _My deepest apologies, it took **forever** to write up this chapter. I went through some serious writer's block and many of my thoughts were unfocused this past week, but I'm glad to have finally gotten it done!_

 _A quick thank you to Kirino Tsuki, lojenz, meowzac, RowenaGryffindor, Supernatural Aurora, arlith, and jcscheidt for favouriting/following the story. I'm glad that my story has peaked your interest, even if it is only by a little bit._

 _In response to some reviews..._

 _DarkDust27: Smart cookie. I hope y'all like some of him in future chapters/years...Can't wait to bring him in to the story more. All in due time..._

 _RoamingBunni: I'm glad you enjoy the way I'm writing Alice. I can never tell if I'm staying true to the character I started them out to be or not and to hear that you've enjoyed her progress so far brings a smile to my face. Thank you very much!_

 _something526: Ahhh I couldn't tell if the introductory chapters for the story were too long so I'm glad to hear that it has peaked your interest. It's always important to have backstory, but not to the point of boring everyone so I'm happy to hear that it wasn't too much! In terms of an updating schedule, I haven't figured one out yet. Of course, I will always try to get chapters out as soon as possible, but I agree it would be best to secure a day for uploading. I'll try my best to update every Wednesday or more, depending on how my writing is going lol._

 _Thank you everyone for the support so far! I know it took a while but I thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter. I've been brainstorming ideas for this story and possibly other fics that I might consider writing._

 _Anyways! Enough of my blabbering. Here's the new chapter~_

* * *

The weekend had gone by quicker than Alice had expected. Tired out of her mind from playing half the Gryffindors in wizard's chess on Friday, she had stayed in bed longer than she had planned the following morning. The only reason she hadn't stayed longer was because Hermione didn't want to miss breakfast in the Great Hall. Alice was glad that she had gotten up once she'd seen the abundance of breakfast dishes that were laid out on their table. She was still half asleep, but nobody seemed to notice. Besides the two incidents where she couldn't keep her mouth shut, Alice was good at simply listening and observing, rather than speaking before she had an understanding of the weight of her words. She'd always been this way, but it seemed that a few people were pulling her out of her shell.

That morning, the mail had come in. Hundreds of owls swooped down from the ceiling, dropping parcels and letters for almost every student at every table. Alice hadn't been expecting anything and had almost chocked on her eggs when a letter had suddenly dropped down in front of her. She eyed it carefully before picking it up and smiling softly at the familiar name and address on the envelope. She quickly tore it open and read its contents:

 _Dearest Alice,_

 _I hope your first week at Hogwarts was eventful and eye opening. Congratulations on being sorted into Gryffindor house and while I know you weren't too keen on it, your parents would be very proud._

 _There is so much to learn and experience that my own excitement for you seems almost childish. McGonagall tells me that you're doing quite well in your classes and that you've taken an interest in Transfiguration. While it is only your first week, I know that you will achieve great things in whatever subject you put your mind to._

 _I hope you are getting along with your classmates and have made some friends. Though I could tell you were lonely living with me these past few years, I have to say that I do miss you quite a lot. Your absence is evident here to the point that I almost miss you beating me at wizard's chess._

 _I know it might not mean much coming from me, but I am very proud of you for taking such a huge first step in becoming a full-fledged witch and entering a world where you're not quite sure who to call friend or foe. All I can tell you is to trust your gut, be mindful of those around you, and keep those you care about close._

 _I look forward to hearing about your first week,_

 _-Remus_

Alice smiled fondly as she read over the letter once again, feeling a small lump form in her throat. She missed her godfather dearly and owed him so much already after only three years of living together. He was a troubled but gentle soul who had made it sunnier in the gloominess that had seemed to swallow her life in one gulp. She was so proud to call him her godfather.

And she wanted to make him proud of her as well.

"Eye of rabbit, heart string hum. Turn this water into rum." Seamus had chanted for the third time since they had all sat down. The way the boy had been waving his wand around made Alice feel nervous and she knew she had been correct in feeling this way when she heard a bang come from beside her.

Looking up to see that the Irish boy was covered in soot along with a smoking goblet in front of him, the entire table burst into laughter. Alice smile empathetically at the boy on her right, taking her napkin and helping Seamus rub some of the grime off his face. He was still stunned by the explosion and had come to his senses only after she had gotten the majority of the filth off. Seamus had thanked her as Dean shoved the boy jokingly.

Everyone had spent the most of their weekend finishing homework. The bulk of the work came from McGonagall and Snape. Luckily for Alice, she'd managed to get through it pretty quickly, though it had taken some effort. Both her and Hermione were the first to get their workload done, while many of their housemates had asked for help in completing their own. Being a little more open to helping others than her friend, Alice had practically been swarmed as she explained some of the notes McGonagall had given.

Sunday evening, Alice had attempted to make her way to the owlery, only to become hopelessly lost. To her luck, she'd managed to run into Sir Nicholas, who guided her in the right direction with a content smile on his ghostly face. It was quite the climb up the castle's West Tower, but the sight was well worth it. Though it was dark, Alice could see the fog softly floating over the Black Lake from the tower and it made her gap at the beautiful scenery.

The owlery was disserted in terms of people, but owls of every colour and size lined the walls on their posts. As they were all staring at her as she entered, a single brown owl flew down and sat patiently near one of the open windows. Alice was trying her best not to look down at the straw, the owl droppings, and the regurgitated remains of mice that covered the floor. She simply walked towards the familiar owl that had delivered her letter. She'd seen Remus send letters using the owl in front of her and a warm feeling washed over her at the thought of home.

Reaching into her pocket and pulling out her own letter to send in reply to her godfather, Alice held the envelope out to the owl. It calmly took it and without a second look at her, flew out of the tower and out of sight.

Alice had returned to the common room to see that some of the students in her year were still doing homework. Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus, and a few other students whom she had yet to remember their names sat near the fire, papers strewn about the room. It was Ron who had looked up and spotted her, his tired eyes widening.

"Alice, thank goodness you're here," Ron began, letting out a large strained breath as the rest of the boys took in her presence. "Hermione left us to fend for ourselves. She wasn't much help anyways. Kept acting like she was better than all of us."

"To be fair, she did have a reason to leave us," Harry pointed out to Ron. "It is late after all."

"Plus, we weren't making much headway regardless of her being here or not." Neville added, looking quite sad.

Staring at all the boys in silence, Alice knew she had two options. She could both go to bed and get the sleep she needed for classes tomorrow but ultimately feel bad about leaving the boys with their unfinished work. Or she could help the boys complete their homework but get little to no sleep.

She let out a loud sigh.

"You boys owe me." She grumbled and the boys let out a quiet string of cheers as she joined their little circle.

It was almost impossible to get up for breakfast the following morning. Hermione had scolded her for getting sucked in to helping the boys get their work done. While Alice did regret losing sleep, she didn't regret helping them. She'd taken the time to explain to them the parts that didn't make sense and gave them examples to help them get their work done. She hadn't done their homework for them, but she had helped them understand to the point where they had gotten their workload done on their own.

The bags under her eyes were evident as she slumped down at the table in the Great Hall for breakfast. Even Percy had asked if she was all right and needed to go to the hospital wing, but she assured him that she was okay and politely declined. Hermione had glared at the guilty boys for the majority of breakfast and Alice didn't have the energy to tell her to stop. She figured the boys deserved a bit of a scolding themselves, to which Hermione was happy to do with her scowl.

Alice had somehow managed to get through the first few classes of the day with little trouble staying awake. It was only when she had History of Magic that she'd begun feeling her eyes drooping and that it was difficult to pay attention. Hermione kept nudging her awake and it seemed like a miracle when the class had ended.

"We've only got one more class, Alice. Then you can go back to the common room and sleep for the rest of the day." Hermione assured her as she dragged the blonde along with her.

While Hermione was correct, their last class was Transfiguration. In other circumstances Alice would have been excited at the thought of her favourite subject, but all she felt was a calming hum in her chest. Maybe McGonagall would have them practice turning quills into birds or glass goblets into pocket watches.

Never before had Alice been so wrong. The entire class would be spent going over the homework that had been assigned during the previous week. While Alice had found the homework easy, others did not. This was fair, considering the subject was a challenging one, but it was difficult to stay awake with McGonagall trying to explain over and over the wand movements needed to not have their spells go haywire. Alice had been lucky the first few time to have been woken up by Hermione before the professor noticed, but it was on the fourth time that McGonagall spoke up.

"Miss Fairfax, am I boring you?" The professor asked, to which Alice snapped awake in a panic.

"No professor, I just didn't sleep well last-"

"No excuses. Just because you have a better grasp on the content of this class does not mean you can fall asleep while I'm teaching."

"She's telling the truth, professor-" Hermione attempted to help her, but McGonagall raised a hand, telling her to stop.

"We will talk about this after class." McGonagall gave Alice a look before continuing on while her point on wand waving.

Alice sighed in defeat and closed her eyes, feeling her brow furrow as a wave of self-loathing washed over her. She was being impossibly rude by not paying attention in the class she prided herself on the most. Alice never even once considered herself too good to listen in class, nor had she ever thought ill of the people in the class who couldn't perform Transfiguration like she could. It was a difficult subject that she had been blessed to understand a little better than others.

For the remainder of class, a grey storm cloud hung over the young girl's head. Alice stared off into space at something in front of her, trying to follow McGonagall's instructions on homework. Hermione kept glancing at her worriedly out of the corner of her eye.

Class had finally been dismissed, everyone had gathered their things and left. The exception, of course, was Alice. She sat at her desk dreading the conversation she was about to have. She just hoped that the professor would understand.

"Why are you so tired today, Alice?" McGonagall had said after a few moments of silence, to which the young girl looked up at the professor for the first time since she'd scolded her in front of the class.

"I was helping my housemates with their homework into the late hours of the night." Alice explained calmly.

"You would have been better off leaving them to do it on their own-"

"I was helping them with your homework, professor," Alice stated, cutting McGonagall off unintentionally. "I apologize for falling asleep in your class, but I will not apologize for helping my classmates."

"I don't expect you to," McGonagall replied, taking off her glasses and letting out a sigh. "Potter, Weasley, and Longbottom appeared to follow the lesson a lot better. It looked as though even Mister Finnigan and Mister Thomas understood a little as well."

Alice remained quiet, taking the time to look down at her hands. She couldn't tell what McGonagall would do next, a ball of anxiety brewing in her chest.

"I'll award ten points to you for helping your fellow classmates, even at the sacrifice of sleep," McGonagall stated and Alice's eyes flew open wide in surprise at her words. "On a completely different note, the headmaster has request you to join him in his office."

Still stunned at the fact that she'd been awarded points for her house, Alice thought she'd heard the professor wrong when she'd mentioned the headmaster.

"Pardon?" Alice asked, her eyes still wide.

"Do not worry, Miss Fairfax," McGonagall assured her, a small smile on the older witch's face. "I will accompany you there. The headmaster simply wants to meet you is all."

Alice's mouth had formed a small 'o' as she watched McGonagall stand up from her spot behind her desk. The young girl slowly followed the professor out of the classroom and through multiple corridors that she had never been through before. The final corridor was full of gargoyles, both beautiful and creepy, as the flames of the torches on the walls were the only things that lit them. Alice followed the professor to the end of the hallway, where a final gargoyle resided. Stopping in front of the statue, the young girl peered up at McGonagall in question.

"Sherbet Lemon." The older witch said, causing Alice's face to scrunch up in confusion. Who was she talking to and what did sherbet lemons have to do with anything?

Her heart almost jumping out of her chest at the sight of the gargoyle moving slowly, Alice realized that there was, in fact, a passageway behind the statue. Once the gargoyle was completely out of the way, McGonagall gave the girl a small smile.

"Follow me."

Not needing to be told twice, Alice stayed on the professor's heels as they walked up the spiral staircase. It was a rather claustrophobic space and she was exceptionally glad when they reached a landing, along with oaken double doors.

Alice assumed this was the headmaster's office.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you on your own," McGonagall explained, to which Alice nodded slowly. "This request was simply to meet you, nothing to worry about."

The young girl was more than a little worried, but she swallowed her fear and let out a long breath. The professor ushered her forward towards the set of doors and Alice stared at them nervously. She figured she was only making her nerves worse by standing distressingly looking at the door and with a serge of confidence, Alice pushed open the doors.

A large circular room with many windows and multiple portraits graced Alice's eyes. The office appeared to be divided into three different sections. The first area, the one she was standing in, contained all the portraits of past Headmasters, a few cabinets, and a couple of tables filled with curious instruments that Alice had never seen before. The second area contained that of the Headmaster's desk and chair, surrounded by shelves and shelves of books. The third area was a loft, which could be reached by flights of steps on both sides of the desk area.

Behind the desk sat Albus Dumbledore himself.

"Ah, Miss Fairfax. Come in, come in." The Headmaster welcomed her, looking up from the papers on his desk.

With a bit of hesitation, Alice slowly made her way towards the desk. The old wizard ushered her to take a seat in the chair across from him and she quickly obliged. Continuing on with his work for a few more minutes, the young girl began taking in the old wizard's appearance. She could tell by the way the man sat that he was quite thin and tall. His silver hair and beard were so long that they could easily be tucked into his belt. He had a very long yet crooked nose and his eyes were a magnificent shade of blue that twinkled with kindheartedness.

"My apologies, Alice. The paperwork continues to find it's way to my desk and climb higher than expected," Dumbledore spoke up, placing his quill down on his desk and bringing his attention up to the girl. "It is wonderful to finally meet you. Minerva tells me you're doing well in your classes. Do tell me, are you enjoying your time here at Hogwarts so far?"

"Yes," Alice said, but she could tell the old wizard was expecting more of an explanation. "My housemates are all lovely and I've managed to make a few friends. The classes are intriguing and I've found that I've already learned quite a lot from the first week. The other houses seem rather friendly, though I'm not very fond of the Slytherin students."

"It's only natural for you to not get along with the Slytherins. Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were considered friends when they first established this school, but it didn't seem to last," Dumbledore explained. "They became rivals, and lions and serpents aren't considered the best of friends in the real world anyways."

Alice nodded slowly at the Headmaster's words. She supposed it made sense for her not to enjoy the company of the Slytherins when she was a straight descendant of the man who had established their rival house.

"Before you arrived, did you enjoy living with Remus?" Dumbledore continued, moving on to a different subject completely. Alice blinked a few times.

"I couldn't imagine living with anyone else, professor." She assured him.

"Though it must have been difficult with the full moon making its appearance every month?" The older wizard inquired, eyeing her carefully.

"It was challenging to say the least, but I did what I could to help him whenever that time of month would arrive," Alice expounded. "He never severely hurt me and I tried my best to come up with ways to make the struggles of those nights a bit easier, but my magic wasn't strong enough to come up with any lasting solutions."

"How has your magic been behaving recently?"

"Fine, actually. I've been successful when casting the majority of my spells."

"And have you set anything ablaze or burned anyone?"

The young girl froze at the comment. It only made sense that McGonagall had informed him of her misadventures with fire. Now that she thought about it, Alice hadn't had any incidents as of late, but then again, nothing had upset her or drove her to lose control of her magic.

"No, sir." Alice shook her head after a moment.

"That makes me believe that your point about your magic being weak to be false," the professor concluded, leaning forward on his desk. "It is obvious that you are a powerful witch in the making. I knew this as soon as I was informed of Violet being pregnant with you. Your parents were exceptional people, and they would bring exceptional children into this world."

Alice remained quiet as she fixed her eyes on the front of the older wizard's elaborate desk.

"Now that you have a wand of your own in your possession, you will learn to control your magic and expel it in whichever way you command it to," Dumbledore stated. "McGonagall tells me that you can perform wandless magic?"

"Occasionally, sir. It doesn't always work."

"That is an impressive feat, though I recommend that you stick to using your wand from now on. Only until you learn to control your magic. Promise me this."

"I promise."

"Thank you, my dear," the Headmaster nodded in gratitude. "There are two more things I ask of you, if you're okay with this."

"Of course." Alice replied.

"Come to me if you have any more of your fiery incidents," he explained. "And the same goes for if any of those nightmares of the Potters resurface, but that is a discussion for another time."

Alice wondered if there was anything that McGonagall _hadn't_ told the Headmaster.

"That is all for today, I suppose. You look rather exhausted so I'll let you return to your chambers," Dumbledore stated, giving Alice a soft smile. "It was lovely chatting with you, I look forward to our future conversations."

Thanking the Headmaster for his time and exiting his office, Alice made her way straight to the Gryffindor common room in the hopes of taking a nap. Many of the things professor Dumbledore had said were swimming around in her head with little control over which thought would surface in her mind. While it had been nice speaking with him, the older wizard had only given Alice a reminder of all the things she didn't understand in her life. The uncontrollable fiery incidents along with the nightmares of the night the Potters had died were only two of the weights that were crushing her slowly, and she had a feeling there would be many more questionable things to come.

Hermione had practically attacked her with questions as soon as Alice had entered the common room. Her bushy-haired friend was huffing and puffing to the point that Alice thought Hermione would explode. By the gloomy and mildly scared faces of the boys whom she'd stayed up for the previous night, it was obvious that Hermione had given the bunch a reprimanding speech.

"I'm alright, Hermione," Alice assured her friend, giving her a hug. "McGonagall let me explain and even awarded me some points for helping the boys out with their work. She told me to go visit the Headmaster, since he apparently wanted to check on me. I just came back from his office now."

"What was Dumbledore like?" Hermione asked, genuinely curious.

"Kind, extremely knowledgeable. Maybe a little too much," Alice laughed softly. "I'll tell you about it later, but I really must go lie down. I want to shake this exhaustion I'm feeling and the only cure can be found in my bed."

Hermione had given her a smile of relief and ushered her off to bed. Crawling under the blankets with Scarlett beside her had never felt as wonderful as it had in that moment. Much to her relief, Alice had managed to fall asleep rather quickly, though it wasn't dreamless like she had hoped.

She didn't know whether it was because professor Dumbledore had brought it up or if had been long overdue, but Alice dreamt of the Potters for the first time since she had arrived at Hogwarts. Sitting bolt upright in her bed with sweat dripping down from her forehead, she was practically gasping for air. By the darkness that remained outside the windows of the dormitory and the soft snores of her roommates, Alice came to the conclusion that she had missed dinner and had slept through the rest of the evening. The clock beside her read half past one, to which she let out a soft grown.

Feeling a chill shoot down her spine, she decided to go down to the common room and warm up by the fire. It was obvious that she wouldn't be finding sleep anytime soon and decided to bring her kitten down with her.

The large fire was still roaring, lighting up the common room with a soft but warm glow. Slowly making her away over to sit in front of the glowing flames, Alice let out a sigh of relief as she felt the heat gradually melt into her skin and warm her from the inside out. Scarlett stared at the flames for a moment before curling up beside Alice to drink in the warmth for herself.

The two sat there for a while, letting the burn of the fire heat up their chilled bones. Alice had been staring at the flames, watching as they flickered and danced across the wood and the ashes. A thought occurred to her, which for most others would be considered a stupid and unorthodox type of thought. Alice weighed her options, slowly lowering her attention to that of her right hand. She knew she had to try or she wouldn't be able to get any sort of rest over the next few hours.

Letting out a quick breath, Alice reached forward and stuck her hand into the flames.

There was no burning sensation, no scarring of her skin, no pain at all that came with the action. Alice checked to make sure that the flames were actually touching her hand, and sure enough, the flames were licking all over her skin and nails, but left nothing behind with the exception being a dull warmth.

Deciding to take a step further, Alice reached down and picked up a few of the burning red coals. The outcome was the same as before.

"What are you doing down here?"

The sudden voice coming from behind her had Alice throwing the coals back into the fireplace and spinning her head in the direction of speaker. Her surprised eyes landed on that of a tired looking Harry, standing at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the dormitories. Of all the people that lived in Gryffindor tower, what were the chances that it would be Harry she would stumble across?

Alice blinked a few times.

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted, raising an eyebrow at him. "And you?"

"Nightmares woke me up. I don't think I'll be able to sleep anytime soon," the boy replied, moving further into the room and his eyes landed on the Scarlett. "You have a pet cat?"

"Yes," Alice answered, smiling down at the feline and petting her. "I've only had her for a few weeks now, but I like to think we're getting along just fine."

She rubbed her fingers under the kitten's chin, only for Scarlett to let out multiple courses of purrs. The cat turned her attention to Harry, slowly getting up from her spot and carefully approaching him.

"May I pet her?" Harry asked, looking down at the kitten.

"Be my guest."

A part of Alice was expecting Scarlett to attack Harry almost immediately, since the only other person the cat let touch her was Hermione. The boy had reached down for the cat to sniff his hand and much to Alice's surprise; the kitten had rubbed her head against his hand.

She remained quiet yet impressed, watching as the cat rubbed up against the boys legs. Harry continued to pet her, a small smile spreading across his face.

"What's her name?" Harry asked, sitting down on the floor a little ways away from Alice, his attention still on the cat.

"Scarlett." She replied, watching as he observed the cat's leg.

"Did you name her that because of the scar on her leg?"

Now Alice was really impressed.

"Yes."

"That's very clever."

Alice couldn't believe that he had guessed the joke behind the kitten's name. Nobody had even mentioned it to her, let alone noticed the witticism. She continued to stare at the boy as he played with Scarlett, but he soon turned his attention to her. He looked as nervous as she felt.

"What were you doing with the fire just then?" Harry asked, and she felt her chest tighten.

"I was warming up my hands." She lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

"Most people would consider sticking their hands in a fire and picking up coals as burning their hands, but maybe I'm indifferent."

Staring at him for a long moment, Alice almost laughed at the amount of wit that just came out of the boy's mouth. She had only seen glimpses of it in him, like when he stood up to Draco Malfoy on the first evening at Hogwarts. It was surprising to see, considering the fact that Alice looked at him as a rather reserved kid.

Though she hadn't exactly had the time to get to know the boy either, and that was partially her own fault.

"I know you don't have a reason to listen to me, but please don't tell anybody about what you saw," Alice sighed. "I don't even know what I'm doing to begin with, let alone to have a valid reason to stick my hand in a fire."

"It didn't burn you?"

"No."

"That makes sense, I guess. I'd seen the burn marks on the floor that you left behind on the first day. I shouldn't be surprised."

Now Alice was really freaked out.

"When did I leave burn marks on the floor?" She questioned him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"When you yelled at Malfoy before the Sorting Ceremony." Harry clarified, stunning Alice completely.

"I hadn't even noticed," she mumbled. "Do you think anyone else noticed?"

"Probably not, everyone was too nervous about being sorted into their house to notice anything on the floor."

"Then why did you?"

It was a fair question, but she knew that Harry wouldn't be able to answer without struggling a bit. The tips of his ears had already turned a little pink, much to Alice's surprise. She thought he wouldn't be able to respond, not become embarrassed.

"You're…peculiar." He finally spoke up and Alice blinked in surprise.

"How am I peculiar?" She questioned.

"I'm not exactly sure."

"Well that's not a great answer, but at least it's an answer."

Harry let out an uneasy laugh and Alice smiled to herself. While their conversation so far had been filled with awkwardness and tension, the young girl felt herself slowly growing comfortable with the boy. That's when she realized for the second time that week that Harry Potter was just that, a boy. Though the dreams of his parents' murder were definitely disturbing and unexplained, Harry had given her no reason to hate or fear him.

She wanted to ask him something. Something that had been bothering her since the day she had met him on the train. It never seemed appropriate to bring it up more than it did now, since they were actually speaking to one another.

Alice swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Harry?"

The boy, who had turned his attention back to the kitten during their long stretch of silence, looked up at the mention of his name. He appeared a little more surprised than normal, and then she remembered that this was the first time she had uttered his name. Ever.

"Yes?" He asked hesitantly.

"This is going to sound weird and you might not know what I'm talking about," Alice began, breathing in a big gulp of air. "But why did you look so terrified when you saw me on the train?"

Harry had automatically stiffened at the question, his eyes averting her own at all costs. A part of Alice was just as scared to hear the answer as he looked in telling her. The other half of her fear was that she had pushed him even further away than they had already been. Thinking about it now, she wondered why they had even avoided each other to begin with. As much as she hated to admit it, she wanted nothing more than to not worry about keeping Harry away from her. She wanted to know him, wanted to tell him how sorry he was for the loss of his parents and how he had never had a chance to know them well. It broke her heart every time the image of the baby, sitting alone in a room with his dead parents only a few feet away, came to mind. It was horrific in every way possible.

"I've been wanting to ask you the same question." Harry had finally said, meeting Alice's eyes. It only seemed fair of him to ask.

"You tell me and I'll tell you." She reached out her hand to him.

Eyeing her hand for a moment and letting out a sigh, the boy reached out and shook her hand. It was a deal.

"I…don't even know where to start," Harry began, playing with his fingers nervously. "I guess it started three years ago. I'd started having these…nightmares, and it would always be the same thing. A burning house, a blonde-haired girl running through the flames, discovering the bodies of her family, and the roof collapsing on them."

Alice's eyes had begun watering from the lack of blinking she was doing. They were wide in horror, feeling her stomach tumbling over itself in one of the most uncomfortable ways she had ever felt. It felt as thought somebody had hit her fifty times with the same spell, stunning her over and over again until she couldn't feel her limbs.

"I'd always figured the girl had died at the end of my nightmares, but apparently I'd been wrong in thinking that they were only nightmares," Harry continued, still not looking up at her. "I saw you on the train and…you looked _exactly_ like her. Identical. It made me want to vomit thinking that this nightmare that had stolen all my sleep belonged to something that had actually happened."

She couldn't listen anymore. The amount of confusion and anxiety that was building up in her chest felt like she would explode any minute. What were the chances? What were the chances that he would dream about her tragedy and she dream of his? Alice was panicking, everything was becoming too much. Harry had finally looked up at her and noticed her strained expression. She watched his mouth moving but no words reached her ears. She had gone into shock.

"Alice."

Blinking profusely and breathing heavily, she could finally hear the crackling of the fire once again. Harry was looking at her in concern, if not a little scared by her reaction.

And he had every right to be.

"What's wrong? I know that's bizarre but-"

"Harry Potter," Alice interrupted, looking at him through his clear round glasses. "We have _a lot_ to talk about."

* * *

 _And the cat's out of the bag (pun intended)._

 _I can't wait to further Alice and Harry's relationship, the relief of writing the end half of this was wonderful. It will still take a bit for their friendship to actually **become** friendship, but it's one more thing cleared up between them._

 _I'll try my best to update on Wednesdays from now on, so please anticipate the next chapter!_

 _Hope you all enjoyed,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	8. Horns For A Malicious Serpent

_Hello again!_

 _Happy Wednesday! I'm surprised I managed to stick to the schedule I had decided upon a week ago. Believe it or not, I'm actually working on multiple fics right now and I'm a little hesitant to post the other two I've been writing. One of them is a Walking Dead fic, which I have a few chapters written for and an idea of where I'm going with it. The other is a Game of Thrones one that I'm currently brainstorming. I'm working on it's OC as we speak and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with that one._

 _Anyways, I'm thinking of starting with posting the Walking Dead one. I'll continue with this fic tho, do not worry!_

 _A big thank you to Dkthespaniard, Lisasa, Sparrowhawk8.20, The Fool Arcana, madwamoose, BloodWaltz, ShadowWolfAlchemist, housedayne, and incompletedarkness for the follows/favourites! It means a lot, so thank you for sticking around for more!_

 _As for a few reviews..._

 _DarkDust27: Yeah there is no way that their conversation would have been too pleasant lol. I debated whether or not to include the whole convo in the story, but I decided that they had discussed enough for the people reading to understand, you know?_

 _madwamoose: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I've been fighting not just writer's block but deciding which of my fics I'm going to spend my time on. When I want to work on my WD fic, I'll get ideas for this one. When I want to develop my OC in the GoT fic I'm working on, I think of new character tropes for others. My mind has been switching gears all week it's been unreal lol._

 _Okay, enough talking! Here, my lovelies, is the new chapter._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

It was the Thursday that the majority of the Gryffindor first years were dreading. If it being the first day of flying lessons weren't bad enough, they would also be flying with the Slytherins to make things even worse. There were only a handful of them that had actually been on a broom before. Seamus had spent the majority of his childhood flying around on a broomstick and even Ron had told them stories of the close calls he'd had with hang gliders and other flying vessels. Neville was absolutely terrified, never even being near a broom to begin with. Hermione seemed just as nervous, if not more. There were only so many things a person could learn from a book, and learning how to fly was not one of them.

Alice had only watched the occasional Quidditch game with her family back when she was younger, but was nowhere near as invested in the sport as her brother was. Martin lived and breathed for Quidditch, his room being covered in memorabilia. The young girl only knew the simple rules of the game, but that was about the extent of her knowledge.

Everything at the Gryffindor table seemed a bit more quiet than usual, the nervousness of the first years floating in the air. Alice sat between Hermione and Neville, with Ron and Harry sitting across from them.

Alice eyed Harry anxiously. It had been a few days since they had shared their nightmares in front of the common room fire. She had expected their relationship to become worse than it already had been, or at least would stay the same, but she had been incredibly wrong. While the two hadn't suddenly become best friends, they were more comfortable in each other's presence than before. The air had cleared and left them in a calm state of friendliness.

They didn't talk all the time, but Alice noticed that they would somehow always end up near one another. She realized that this had happened before when they had been uncomfortable with each other, but instead of avoiding it, they now rested easily and slowly began to embrace it. While the fact that they dreamt of each other's tragedies still bothered the both of them, they weren't afraid of it anymore. In an odd way, it was something that they could relate to, something that only they knew about.

Harry had kept her secret regarding her incident with the fire. Not like she had expected him to tell everyone, it was nice to have someone who knew who wasn't an adult. Another thing was that he wouldn't look at Alice like she was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment. He simply was aware of the fact that she could burn things but not be burned herself and treated her no different for it.

The boy looked up from picking at his meal and met her eyes. She could tell he was worried about their lessons after lunch. It made sense, considering he had no clue about flying to begin with. Alice offered him a nervous smile and Harry quickly returned it.

The sound of violent page turning brought Alice's attention to Hermione, who sat next to her scowling down at _Quidditch Through the Ages_. She knew her bushy-haired friend was attempting to cram as much information into her head as possible, making Alice let out a sigh.

"Hermione, enough," she said, reaching over and closing her friend's book softly. "You've read through that book at least ten times. You know as much as you're going to get from reading."

"How are you not nervous?" Hermione demanded, her eyes pleading for Alice to let her in on her sense of calm.

"Who says I'm not nervous?" Alice questioned, laughing softly.

"You don't look it at all!"

"I'm good at keeping my emotions to myself, for the most part. While I am anxious about flying, I just think about all the people who've done it before us. If they can do it, why can't we?"

Looking around the table, Alice realized that the majority of the first years had stopped eating to listen in on her words. She glanced at their faces, feeling a little self-conscious with their gazes fixed on her.

"It looks like Alice is the only one of the bunch with confidence." She heard one of the Weasley twins say from a few seats away.

"Have you ever flown before?" The other twin asked.

"No." Alice replied simply.

"Could you _be_ anymore of a Gryffindor?"

The twins' joke got a few laughs, to which Alice gave a shrug, a small smile playing on the corners of her lips. It was the first time that she'd ever remotely smiled at being called a Gryffindor, but she supposed things had changed over the past few weeks. She was content for the first time in a while, and she had her housemates to thank for that.

After a bit of hesitation, all of the first years got up from the table and made their way out of the Great Hall with the rest of the students. Afternoon classes would be starting soon, and everyone wanted to attend on time.

Heading down the front steps into the grounds and over the sloping lawns, Alice looked in the direction of the forbidden forest, whose trees swayed ominously in the distance. She had been wondering what lurked in between those trees but hence it's name, Alice wouldn't be visiting there anytime soon unless she wanted detention. She supposed it was forbidden for a reason and kept walking with the rest of her house.

Much to her discontent, the Slytherins were already there waiting, along with roughly twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines across the grass. She tried her best to avoid even looking in the direction of Draco Malfoy, but noticed that Harry was burning holes into the side of the blond Slytherin boy's head.

"Try to ignore him," Alice mumbled to Harry, who turned to her in a bit of a shock. "It'll be hard, but trust me. He isn't worth it."

"I can't wait to completely embarrass myself in front of them." Harry sighed, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"It'll be okay, you're not in this alone," she replied. "Maybe we'll get lucky and Malfoy will fly into the side of the castle or something."

Harry let out a slight laugh, but his frown returned.

"He's been bragging about his flying, so I doubt that'll happen."

"Again, maybe we'll get lucky."

Before they could continue their conversation, their teacher, Madame Hooch, arrived. Her short, grey hair rustled softly with the wind while her yellow eyes looked like those of a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" The witch barked at them. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

The students shuffled over and stood beside a broom of their choosing. Alice was between Harry and Hermione while everyone waited for Madame Hooch to give the next set of instructions.

"Stick your right hand over your broom," she yelled to all of them. "And say 'Up!'"

Multiple courses of the word 'Up!' echoed between the students. Alice had been a little surprised when her broomstick had shot right up into her hand, if not a little too harshly. She looked over and saw Hermione's broom rolling over on the ground, much to her friend's irritation. When Alice glanced over to her right, she stared in content surprise as Harry's broom sat firmly in the boy's hand. He gave her a wide smile, which she returned happily. Ron was on the other side of the boy, still trying to get the broom in his hand. The broomstick had suddenly shot up and hit the Weasley boy in the face, to which both Harry and Alice laughed.

"Shut up, you two." Ron whined, eyeing them harshly.

Once everyone had managed to get their broomstick in hand, one way or another, they all turned their attention back to their instructor. Madame Hooch showed them how to properly mount their brooms without sliding off and went up and down the row of students to make sure they all had the right grip before continuing.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground, hard," she stated, the whistle hanging between her lips. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle. Three, two-"

Before she could finish, everyone watched as Neville pushed off the ground too soon. The nervous, jumpy boy began rising slowly up and away from the group without much control.

"Come back, boy!" Madame Hooch shouted, but Neville continued to rise straight up, coming close to about twenty feet above ground. Alice watched in despair as the boy looked down at the ground, lose his grip on the hand of his broom, and slowly tumble off the end before hitting the ground.

The sound was horrific. Neville remained lying on the ground moaning in pain as Madame Hooch rushed over to the poor boy.

"Looks like a broken wrist," Alice heard the instructor say. "Come on, boy. It's alright, up you get."

Madame Hooch helped Neville onto his feet before turning to the rest of the class.

"None of you are to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."

Neville's pale and tear-stained face hobbled out of sight with Madame Hooch by his side. It was only when they were gone that Draco let loose a bark of laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins began laughing at the boy's cruel words.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Parvati Patil snapped.

"Ooh, sticking up from Longbottom?" A girl by the name of Pansy Parkinson said. Alice had seen the girl sneering at her during Potions class before, though she had never spoken a single word to the Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati."

Oh, how Alice's blood had begun to boil. She tried to remember the words she had said to Harry about ignoring them, but it was extremely difficult when they were being as rude and cruel as they were. What she said before about her emotions was true, the exception being that of anger. She still had issues with that for sure.

"Look!" Malfoy said, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

In the Slytherin boy's grasp remained a small, clear glass ball. Alice remembered how Neville had opened up some mail on the weekend to receive it from his grandmother. It was a Rememberall, something that was extremely peculiar to look it. The smoke inside the ball was currently white, but when it turned red, it meant that the holder had forgotten something. The only thing is, it didn't tell you _what_ it was you'd forgotten.

"Give it here, Malfoy." Harry demanded, pulling Alice out of her thoughts. She watched as Malfoy smiled nastily at him.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about on the roof?"

"Give it _here_." Harry yelled, only for Malfoy to mount his broomstick and take off. Much to their discontent, the Slytherin boy could actually fly well.

"Come get it, Potter!"

Harry quickly moved to go grab his broom, but Hermione grabbed a hold of his robes.

"No!" She shouted. "Madame Hooch told us not to move. You'll get us all in trouble."

Alice knew that Harry wouldn't listen to Hermione, but what surprised her more was the fact that he actually looked over at her. She came to the realization that Harry was silently asking her what to do. In her head, Alice knew that Hermione had a point, but was it worth it to follow the rules in this instant? Malfoy was being extremely nasty and he didn't need any more boosts to that ego of his. Alice also knew that Harry would go no matter what.

Draco Malfoy needed to be taught a lesson, one way or another.

Alice gave Harry a quick nod off approval and the boy took off.

Harry soared through the air with surprisingly excellent control, the wind blowing through his hair as he tilted his broomstick up slightly. Climbing even higher, many of the students gasped while Ron let loose a yell of approval.

Watching as Harry faced off against Draco, it was obvious that the Slytherin boy was taunting him. Knowing Harry, Alice assumed he was giving Malfoy some strong words of his own.

Alice paused. 'Knowing Harry'? The young girl barely _knew_ him, let alone knew his characteristics as of yet. The only sort of personal things she knew about Harry had come from that night in the common room and even that wasn't very much. It was a confidently weird thought that she shouldn't have had in regards to someone she had only just met.

The sight of Malfoy whipping the Rememberall through the air had Alice's eyes opening wide in shock, but what caused even more surprise was how fast Harry had flown after it. To have that much control over something he had only just learned how to use was incredible and his speed was something she had never seen before.

Just as the small glass object was within a few feet of the ground, Harry had managed to grab it in mid air and pull up his broom just in time to stop on the ground. All Alice could do was grin as everyone rushed over to him.

He would make an excellent Quidditch player.

"HARRY POTTER!" A voice boomed, coming from the entrance to the castle. Alice watched as McGonagall came rushing out of the castle towards him, to which the young Fairfax girl picked up her jogging speed to get beside Harry before the professor reached him.

" _Never_ in all my time at Hogwarts," McGonagall began, speechless from her shock. "How dare you…might have broken your neck-"

"But it was Malfoy-"

"Be quiet, Mr. Weasley-"

"It wasn't his fault, professor-"

McGonagall turned and looked at Alice, her eyes staring holes into her soul. It seemed as thought the older witch was surprised that Alice was standing up from Harry. The young girl couldn't blame her for feeling that way.

"That's enough, Miss Fairfax," McGonagall said, a bit calmer than she was before. "Potter, follow me. Now."

Alice watched as the professor escorted Harry into the castle, her chest bubbling with anger and resentment towards the Slytherins. It was when she saw the smug faces of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle that she snapped.

Well, almost.

"Alice, _no_ ," Hermione stated, pulling her back by the sleeve of her robe. "It's not worth it. Come on, you know that!"

"I don't care, he needs to learn his lesson," Alice replied harshly, pulling her wand out of her robes and pointing it at Draco Malfoy. The boy's eyes opened in a taunting away.

"Oh? What are you going to do, Fairfax? Set me on fire like you did with your family?"

"No. I had something a little more interesting in mind." Alice growled, placing the end of her wand at the spot in between the boy's eyes. "It really makes me wonder how on you ended up being such a nasty little brat. Did your parents not love you or something? I don't blame them if they didn't."

A course of 'oh's' echoed from the voices around them.

"At least I still have parents." Draco replied smugly, but not with his usual nastiness. Alice knew she hit a bit of a nerve.

"You're going to need to come up with better insults, Malfoy," she stated, pressing the end of her wand against the skin of his forehead. She saw his confidence waver and only raised an eyebrow at him. "It appears that you're a coward trying to live up to the standards of others. I hope you know that you're going to have little to no friends in this life if you continue with the way you are. I feel bad for you, I really do, Draco."

Malfoy had gone quiet. It was only when Pansy Parkinson began laughing at her did the rest, including a somewhat hesitant Draco, follow her in laughter. Alice rolled her eyes and turned away, knowing that the boy who made her blood boil wasn't going to learn anytime soon.

"Yeah, that's right. Go back to your Gryffindors. Let me know how Longbottom's doing. I hope his wrist hurts for a good while."

Alice looked back at the laughing blond-haired boy and pointed her wand at him once again. The flash of fear and surprise in his eyes as she opened her mouth made a soft roar of confidence spread across her chest.

Draco would never learn.

" _Cornifors_!"

Alice turned back around and continued walking, a few of her Gryffindor classmates staring at her in concern as to what spell she just used. It appeared as though only Hermione had any sort of clue, her eyes wide in shock and mild horror, as she knew what he little hex would do.

"You're going to get us all in trouble!" Hermione stated. "It was bad enough with Harry, now we're going to lose even more House Points than before!"

"Worth it." Alice mumbled, coming down from her wave of rage.

"What was that spell, exactly?" Ron asked after a moment as they walked away from the Slytherins.

"You'll see," she replied simply, looking over her shoulder to see her hex already working. "If you turn now, you can see a little bit of it."

Her classmates had turned and squinted in the direction of their enemy house, just as the screams and yells began happening. Ron's jaw had dropped and he turned back to Alice.

"You're going to get caught, you know?" Ron questioned, fighting back a bit of laughter.

"Like I said, worth it."

The Gryffindors walked back to where the brooms remained scattered on the grass to the sounds of the Slytherin's screaming as they watched horns sprout from the top of Draco Malfoy's head.

Alice awaited her call to the Headmaster's office.

* * *

 _I lowkey love Draco but I also want to fight him, hence why this chapter turned out the way it did lol._

 _My apologies if this chapter seemed a little shorter than the others, I've been all over the place with fic ideas not just for this story, but the others I mentioned above. I think I'll start by posting the first few chapters of my WD fic, but we'll see how I'm feeling._

 _I think I'm going to write the next chapter through Harry's perspective, but I haven't decided yet. It's been a while since things have been written through his eyes and the plot points of the next chapter seem like they would work well with Harry._

 _Man, i don't even know. My head is a mess at this point lol._

 _I'll hopefully update soon, the latest being by next Wednesday. I hope you all enjoyed!_

 _See you soon,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	9. A Dog With Three Heads

_Hello again!_

 _I don't know if it was just me or did this week seemed to fly by so fast? I've spent the majority of the week running around doing some last minute Christmas shopping, so I apologize for this chapter coming out in the evening (It's 9 pm for me rn)._

 _A big thank you to Ducky The Insomniac Panda, Estuviara, ladyparty123, patronuspotter8, and TheNarnianMugglebornAvenger for favouriting/following the story. As always, the support is much appreciated and I'm glad the story has interested you enough to have you follow it :D_

 _As for some reviews..._

 _DarkDust27: haha I'm glad you felt he deserved to be hexed! I thought so too, so I'm happy to hear you did as well._

 _DONT INJURE THE GINGER: okay first off I have to say how amazing your username is, I legit laughed when I read it for the first time. Thank you so much for leaving a review, I always like to hear how people are liking the story and I'm glad you're enjoying it as well! It gives me more drive to write when I hear how much people enjoyed certain aspects of a chapter. Thank you for the kind words, hopefully this chapter was up to your standards! :)_

 _madwamoose: I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's always nice to hear feedback, so thank you very much, hun :)_

 _something526: lol I'm glad you enjoyed the revenge on Draco from last chapter. At first I hated him, but now I suppose I'm one of those people who "love to hate" him. There are aspects of him that are very interesting, so I can't dislike him wholeheartedly lol. Hopefully this chapter from Harry's POV turned out okay, and thank you for the kind words as well!_

 _Before getting to the chapter, I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. 2016 has been a hell of a year (emphasis on the word " **hell** ", but I digress) and I hope 2017 is a little kinder to all of us. Again, thank you for the support this story has received so far. I have been gifted with_ _the most lovely readers and am thankful for every single one of you._

 _Here's the new chapter. I hope you enjoy~_

* * *

 _ **Harry's Prospective**_

He had almost been positive that he would be punished by Professor McGonagall for his stunt during flying lessons, but being placed on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as it's Seeker didn't exactly feel like one. Perhaps McGonagall was counting on the fact that he had no idea how to play the game and would make a fool of himself in front of the whole school as his punishment, but the look of content she'd given the boy made him think otherwise. The professor was strict, not cruel.

McGonagall had introduced Harry to Oliver Wood, captain of their house team. Wood seemed just as excited as the professor did and promised that he would teach Harry all he needed to know about Quidditch. While he had been calmed by this knowledge, the feeling was short-lived as Professor Snape had appeared from out of nowhere and demanded to speak with McGonagall immediately. The head of Slytherin house was furious over the fact that one of the Gryffindor first-years had hexed one of his own students, venom coming off his lips as the man commanded McGonagall to discipline the student, for they would not listen to him.

Professor McGonagall left with Professor Snape, who glared at Harry as they left, while Wood returned to his class. Harry wondered who the first-year was as he made his way through the school halls to find Ron.

"Seeker?!" Ron exclaimed as they treaded through the corridor full of students. "But first-years _never_ make the house team! You must be the youngest Quidditch player-"

"In a century," Harry concluded for him, a smile on his face. "According to McGonagall, that is."

"Hey! Well done, Harry!" A voice chimed in from behind them, the two boys turning to see the Weasley twins. "Wood just told us."

"Fred and George are on the team, too. Beaters." Ron explained.

"Our job is to make sure that you don't get bloodied up too bad," the other twin stated. "Can't make any promises, of course. Rough game, Quidditch."

"Brutal! But no one's died in years. Someone will vanish occasionally," the first twin began.

"But they'll turn up in a month or two!" The other finished before giving Ron a quick shove on the shoulder. "Oh! Also, is it true about what happened during your flying lesson today with the Slytherins? I really hope it is, that git Malfoy-"

"Something else happened after I left with McGonagall?" Harry questioned, his face scrunching up. "And what happened to Malfoy?"

Ron's face appeared to morph into something that looked like pain. Fred and George looked at each other before taking their leave, knowing that it was a conversation that would hold the possibility of having more than one outcome.

"Well, you see, after you left," Ron began, letting out a nervous laugh. "Alice got mad at Malfoy and she may or may not have hexed him."

So Alice was the one Professor Snape had been inquiring about.

Harry was stunned. He understood from the little he knew of her that Alice hated Malfoy just as much as he did, but the fact that she actually hexed him was a bit surprising. The idea that she even knew hexes to begin with was startling, which made him glad that he had befriended her when he did.

But the question was, were they really friends? They weren't enemies, and they certainly weren't simply acquaintances either. Harry thought back to the evening a few nights ago in the common room when they had finally began to speak truths to one another. He remembered the unsettled feeling in his gut as she had explained to him of her own nightmares, those centered around his own tragedy. It scared Harry a bit, trying to think of how the coincidence was possible, but he had nonetheless stayed and spoke with Alice throughout the night.

While they may not be the best of friends, Harry looked forward to the day he could confidently call her one. Like he had told her in front of the fire, she was extremely peculiar. Not just by the fact that she had a so-called 'affinity' for fire, but by the way she carried herself. There was a maturity to her that Harry couldn't quite understand, but not in the way that she viewed herself as better than others. In many ways Alice was better than her housemates, especially in terms of their classes. There wasn't anything that she was particularly bad at and didn't brag about it to others like Hermione tended to do. Alice was much more humble and quieter at times that could only make Harry wonder what was going on in her head.

"What happened to Malfoy after he was hexed?" Harry questioned after a moment, coming out of his thoughts.

"Horns grew from his head," a new voice answered, to which both Harry and Ron turned to see Hermione, who appeared a little frazzled. "I can only assume she's being scolded by Professor Snape, considering he was the one Malfoy ran to."

"Well that can't be good," Ron replied. "I would have thought she'd be dismissed by now."

"So did I," Hermione sighed. "I've been wandering around trying to find her with no luck."

"Did you try McGonagall's office?" Harry asked.

"No. Why?"

"Snape came and got her after he inquired about a Gryffindor student hexing one of his own," Harry explained. "Maybe they went there instead?"

"It's worth having a look," Ron stated as they all turned to walk out of the courtyard. "Hope she's still in one piece."

"Oh, please. Of course she is. McGonagall wouldn't let anything happen to her." Hermione retaliated.

Harry knew she had a point, but couldn't help but worry. Professor Snape looked absolutely furious when he had come in search of McGonagall. They all knew that Alice had a bit of a stubborn streak in her, and they all hoped that she'd managed to keep it from causing her anymore trouble.

Wandering through a few corridors and somehow managing not to get lost, thanks to Hermione, the trio managed to come across McGonagall's office. The wooden door was closed shut, but Harry could hear muffled voices coming from inside the classroom.

"She must be punished! I don't care what Draco had said, her actions were unacceptable!"

"I agree, Severus. But I will be the one to do the scolding. You should do the same with Malfoy."

"The boy is in the Hospital Wing. You expect me to discipline a student for being hexed?"

"No, I expect you to tell him to learn some manners and that his words are what caused this outburst."

"That's absurd!"

"Miss Fairfax was simply defending herself against him. Tell me you wouldn't do the same if someone were speaking ill of your family."

Silence followed as Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione nervously, who returned his worried gaze. The sound of approaching footsteps from behind the door had the three of them backing away from the door and pressing their backs against the wall. The wooden door flew open, revealing a seriously frustrated Snape, who's black robes followed after him as he swept down the hallway and out of sight.

The door closed from behind him and the trio slowly approached the door once again.

"Alice, I don't know what you were thinking but hexing a fellow student is not a solution to a problem."

"Yes, professor."

"You're lucky that I was here to keep Severus in line. His methods of discipline aren't always…ethical."

"I figured as much. Thank you."

"I'm forced to take away ten points from Gryffindor for this, and you'll have a week of detention with me. Is that clear?"

"Yes, professor."

"I don't want to see anything like this again, or the consequences will be much worse. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good. Now, off you go."

Harry and the others backed away from the door once again, the worry still resting in the boy's chest as the entrance to the classroom slowly opened. Alice emerged and carefully closed the door behind her, a large sigh leaving her lips. The blonde had almost missed the trio all together, but she did a double take and met Harry's gaze. Her eyes looked tired.

"Listening in on people's conversations isn't exactly polite, you know." Alice said, appearing as if she were fighting back the urge to smile.

"At least you're alright." Hermione sighed, which seemed to surprise the blonde.

"I thought you'd be mad at me for losing points?" Alice questioned.

"Oh, I am, but I'm glad you didn't get scolded too badly."

A small laugh left Alice's lips, smiling at her friend. The moment passed when she turned her eyes on to Harry.

"And you. How many points did you lose? I need to know so I can make them up somehow…"

"He didn't lose any." Ron stated, causing Alice to scrunch up her face in confusion.

"What? How come? That's not exactly fair, you know." She began to say, though there was a hint of humor in her voice.

"Well, there's a difference between flying without supervision and hexing someone." Hermione threw in.

"I suppose you have a point," Alice sighed, looking back at Harry. "Then what happened after McGonagall took you away?"

"Brought me to see Oliver Wood." Harry stated and she raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"To talk to him about making Harry the Gryffindor Seeker!" Ron replied for him, the excitement evident in his voice.

Alice's eyes grew wide and for a moment Harry wondered if she was going to be angry or happy for him. He supposed he didn't know her as well as he thought. Her facial cues were difficult to read sometimes.

Harry was almost blown away when a smile split across her face, watching as her eyes twinkled with delight.

"Harry, that's wonderful!" Alice exclaimed with her full attention fixed on him. "Congratulations! I knew you'd be good when I saw you fly today."

For some reason, Harry couldn't reply right away. It was normal for the students at Hogwarts to stare at him constantly because he was so used to it. It wasn't anything new to meet Alice's eyes, they'd been doing that since they'd first met, but to have her eyes not look as stormy and grey as usual made him no longer squirm under her gaze. Her eyes were kind and full of wonder, and Harry found it hard to swallow.

"Thank you," He mumbled after a moment. "But what if I make a fool of myself?"

"I would think that Wood would help you learn." Alice stated, trying to calm his nerves.

"But still, even then…"

"You won't make a fool of yourself," Hermione threw in. "It's in your blood."

Harry gave the bushy-haired girl a look in question of her words, having no clue what she was getting at.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Giving both Ron and Alice a raise of his brow, Harry and the others followed Hermione through the school. He had no clue what she meant in regards to something being 'in his blood', but decided not to question her and follow in silence.

A torch-lit hallway graced his vision as multiple trophy cases sat against its walls. Some of them were for educational excellence, school spirit, and many other typical trophies a normal school would have. The exception being the trophies that were given for Quidditch, considering that they took up more than half the room in the cases. Trophies awarded to the winning house teams throughout the years that the school had been open were on display before them. Hermione had stopped in front of one of the cases and pointed at a small plaque on the base of the trophy. Harry squinted his eyes behind his round glasses to see his father's name inscribed on it.

"Wow. Harry," Ron spoke up, gazing at the plaque with wide eyes. "You never told me your father was a Seeker, too!"

"I…didn't know." He responded, looking down in awe.

He couldn't believe it. His father was also a Seeker? It didn't seem real, but he felt his heart soar. Being a Seeker on the Gryffindor team would be something he shared with his father. It made Harry feel closer to his roots, and a sort of pride washed over him. He would make his father proud.

"I just noticed something," Hermione began, peering at the trophy with her eyes narrowed in question. "Alice, did any of your family members play Quidditch when they were attending Hogwarts?"

Alice paused for a second, and then shook her head slowly.

"I never knew anyone in my family, the exception being my parents and brother," she explained. "They never told me much about their time at Hogwarts, so I wouldn't know. Why do you ask?"

"It says someone with your last name played as Keeper the same year Harry's father played."

Harry watched as Alice carefully approached the case even more, squinting to get a look at the trophy. He did the same, making out the name that was etched into the plaque near his father's.

"Colin Fairfax?" Ron questioned, reading out the name.

"That…that's my father," Alice mumbled, still staring at the plaque. "Who would have figured he was the Gryffindor Keeper?"

"It's interesting that both your fathers played together." Hermione stated, looking between both Harry and Alice.

The two turned and looked at each other. Harry couldn't help but wonder how many more coincident they would run into regarding their lives being interwoven with each other. While the fact that both his father and hers played together wasn't that strange of a thing to occur, it still made something move around uncertainly in his stomach. He figured that Alice was feeling the same way, but it was hard to tell as he gazed at her expression. The stormy look was back in her eyes and it made him a bit nervous.

The four of them left the hallway full of trophies soon after, Harry and Ron walking in front and away from the girls. Many people knew about him and his past than he did himself, which he couldn't help but feel bothered by it. He though of his parents often, wondering how they had spent their time at Hogwarts and which classes they enjoyed the most. He thought about them all the time when he was living with the Dursleys. Being so busy the past few weeks had kept his mind away from them, taking a bit the sadness away with them.

Climbing up one of the hundreds of staircases, the movement of the staircase made the four of them clutch the railings for balance.

"What's happening?" Harry questioned, looking around as their staircase moved slowly.

"The staircases change, remember?" Hermione replied.

Facing a completely different way then they wanted to, Harry saw a doorway and figured they would try to open it before the stairs moved again.

"Let's go this way." Harry said as the four of them walked towards the door.

Reaching a hand out and turning the knob, the door opened slowly as its hinges creaked unnervingly. Harry looked back at the group and watched as they shrugged their shoulders. Without a second thought, they all stepped through the door.

They were greeted by one of the most eerie hallways Harry had yet to see at Hogwarts. No torches were lit, the creepiest of statues were covered in cobwebs to the point where it was difficult to make out its features. The doorway from which they entered provided the only light in the corridor.

"Does anybody feel like we shouldn't be here?" Ron asked, looking around nervously.

"We're not supposed to be here. This is the third floor." Hermione stated after a moment, turning to all of them. "It's forbidden!"

"Because we definitely haven't been in enough trouble for one day." Harry heard Alice mumble and he would have laughed if he wasn't so freaked out.

Suddenly, one of the torches randomly ignited and an annoying meow was heard from behind them. Harry turned and saw a raggedy old cat sitting there staring at them.

"It's Filch's cat!" Hermione panicked.

"Run. Come on!" Alice stated.

Everyone sprinting down the hallway as if their life depended on it, and maybe in some ways it did. With each torch they passed, flames would ignite and light up the hallway.

"Quick! Let's hide through that door." Harry called out, referring to the wooden door at the end of the corridor.

Reaching the door and pulling on it as hard as he could, Harry could not open the door for the life of him. It was locked up as tight as possible.

"It's locked!" He groaned, turning to the others.

"That's it, we're done for." Ron muttered, looking towards the end of the hallway in dread.

Harry watched as Alice and Hermione made eye contact for a moment. The two girls appeared to have come up with an idea, but before Harry could question either of them, Hermione pushed past them and Alice turned her attention to the flames of the torches.

"Oh, move over!" Hermione yelled, pushing them out of the way.

Still peering at Alice as she pulled out her wand, Harry watched as she pointed it at each of the flames. Not mumbling a single word, one by one each of the flames were put out.

"Alohomora." Harry heard Hermione say, the click of the door unlocking reaching his ears. "Get in!"

"Alice, come on." Harry said, pulling the girl out of the hallway and through the door as well.

Closing the door behind them, Ron turned to Hermione in question.

"Alohomora?" He asked.

" _Standard Book of Spells_ , Chapter Seven." She replied.

"And what were you doing, Alice?" Ron turned his attention to the blonde, apparently too annoyed with Hermione to continue questioning her further.

"Putting out the flames," she explained. "They lit up because they are charmed to do so whenever somebody walks past them. If we had left them going, Filch would have known for sure that somebody was trespassing up here."

Harry had almost opened his mouth to question her regarding her lack of a verbal cue to make the spell work, but he bit his tongue. That was a question for another time.

"Filch is gone." Hermione said, bringing her ear away from the wood of the door.

"Good thing this door's locked!" Ron exclaimed.

" _Was_ locked." She corrected him.

"I think there was a good reason for that." Alice mumbled, everyone turning to look at her.

Harry turned his attention to what the blonde was looking at and felt his stomach drop. What appeared to be a giant three-headed dog remained lying down in front of them. It's paws were the size of Harry's entire body, and by the way the creature was yawning, it appeared as though they had woken it up.

Once the creature's vision fell on them, the four of them let out a simultaneous scream of terror.

Turning on their heels and towards the door, Harry threw it open as the rest of them rushed through behind him. Pressing all four of their small bodies against the door, the struggled to close it as the creature attempted to break through. It was only after a few moments did they managed to close and lock the door once again.

"You'd think they'd put more than a simple charm on a door that's keeping a bloody three-headed dog locked up!" Alice yelled, slightly out of breath as they ran through the corridors back to the Gryffindor common room.

It didn't take very long to reach it, and it was only when they made their way through it did they begin talking once again.

"What do they think they're doing? Keeping a thing like that, locked up in a school." Ron wheezed as they walked through the main area of the common room.

"You don't use your eyes, do you?" Hermione said in disbelief. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"I wasn't looking at its feet! I was a bit preoccupied by with its heads. Or maybe you didn't notice. There were three!"

"It was standing on a trap door." Alice threw in, and Harry could tell she was trying to keep the two of them from fighting anymore.

"Which means it wasn't there by accident," Hermione continued with her speech nonetheless. "It's guarding something."

"Guarding something?" Harry questioned as they came to a halt at the top of the steps, where the girls would separate from the boys to reach their respected dorms.

"That's right," Hermione informed them. "Now, if you don't mind, _I'm_ going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, _expelled_. Alice, I'll meet you upstairs."

Without another word, Hermione turned and disappeared through the door leading up to the girl's dormitories.

"She needs to sort out her priorities." Ron mumbled once she was gone and Harry only nodded.

"I'm sorry about her," Alice spoke up afterwards. "She's usually not that cold."

"Oh really? Cause she seems just peachy to me." Ron replied sarcastically.

"Come on, you know she doesn't intend to offend anyone."

"Well, you ought to tell her that she's not doing that great at avoiding offending others."

Harry watched as she let out a tired sigh. From what he had observed, Alice was the only friend Hermione had at the moment. He wanted to believe that Hermione was as good of a person as Alice made her out to be, but he had to admit that her tone of voice could get under people's skin. To her credit, she did save them from getting caught by Filch, so he knew she had the potential to be a good friend.

He was just waiting for that side of her to come through a bit more.

"Believe what you want, I can't force you to like her, but just know that she means well," Alice said after a pause in their conversation. "I'm going to try and get some sleep, it's been a long day and you two should do the same. I'll see you tomorrow."

She gave both of them a tired smile as she turned and went through the door that Hermione had gone through only moments before her.

"I would tie Hermione's attitude to her smarts, but Alice is smart and isn't like that at all," Ron sighed. "At least one of them has their head on right."

Harry agreed. Alice was indeed very smart and knowledgeable, always helping them out with their homework. Hermione was the same way, but she treated helping them finish their work as if it were a chore she didn't want to do. It made Harry feel somewhat stupid for not knowing the things she did, considering that they were both raised by non-magical families.

He decided that Hermione had her own reasons towards being the way she was and felt like he was wrong to question her. So instead, Harry crawled into bed and shut his eyes, hoping that sleep would take him peacefully into a dreamless state.

Though nightmares were the only thing he had.

* * *

 _Done and done!_

 _I had fun writing things from Harry's prospective for once and plan on doing the same with some future chapters as well. Hopefully I did it justice :3_

 _Anyways, Merry Christmas to all of you and I'll see you next Wednesday._

 _Until then,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	10. The Brawl In The Girls Bathroom

_Hello!_

 _I cannot apologize enough for the lack of chapters that were supposed to go up. The holiday season was unbelievably stressful and exhausting, though I hope all of you had a wonderful time with your friends and family. I want to be upfront with all of you; I have a lot of stressful things going on in my life right now. I'm sorry for how long it took me to get a chapter out, I feel like i let a lot of you down. Of course, I will always try my best to get content out on schedule, but I want you guys to know it isn't out of laziness. I'm just waiting for the hectic whirlwind that is my life to calm down a little._

 _On another note, Happy 2017! I hope this year treats you all wonderfully and I look forward to continuing on this story's journey with all of you._

 _Thank you to PerkyPrincess, Tsukiyomi-Hio, anitahuggins1996, trynathink, Karitori-Ki, Dorisangel, JMLAO, chibianimefan26, and jennyPV2112 for following and favouriting the story! The support is always appreciated :)_

 _For comments...  
_

 _madwamoose: ahhh I'm so glad you liked how I wrote Harry's Pov! I was really anxious about it for a while and your comment made me calm down lol. As for this chapter being in Alice's pov, including a nightmare...your wish has been granted my child! I hope you enjoy lol~_

 _DarkDust27: perhaps he does...lololol a baby crush for now, they're still young but it'll be fun to see what happens as they go up through the years :P_

 _Perky Princess: I'm happy that you enjoyed it, hun! As for the update soon...haha...I'm so sorry ;-;_

 _something526: I'm trying to make all the connections I can between Harry and Alice, but not to the point where it's overwhelming the main plot of the story lol. Thank you for the compliments regarding the previous chapter, I'm glad you liked the way I wrote Harry's perspective as well. Ahhh I had a wonderful christmas, and I hope you had a nice one as well! We can only hope that 2017 will be a better year. As for the troll scene...it's sooner than you think *cough cough* this chapter *cough cough*. The results of it will be in the next chapter tho!_

 _Again, I cannot thank you all enough for the support this story has been getting. I appreciate your patients in terms of my super late update and I'll try to continue writing a bit more whenever I get the chance._

 _Finally, a new chapter~_

* * *

 _ **Alice's Prospective**_

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Alice finally had time to herself. The homework load had been absolutely devastating as of recent. Along with completing her own work, she had continued to help her classmates finish the sections of the classwork that proved to be a bit challenging. The days seemed to go by in the blink of an eye and she had almost been stunned when her classmates had told her to not worry about helping them, for Hermione would be going over it with them later in the evening. Alice supposed that her bushy-haired friend decided to give in to their help as well, and a part of her wondered if Hermione was doing it half in Alice's place to give her a bit of a break.

Similar to how she had spent her previous afternoons, Alice made her way towards the library. While the Gryffindor common room was another option, the place was much too loud for her when it came to doing her work. As much as she was thankful for the friends she had made so far, the Gryffindor students could be a bit of a handful. Alice didn't mind it much, but even she needed some time alone when it was possible.

Alice took her place behind one of the more-so isolated desks situated in the library. It had become her favourite spot out of all the seats that were available to her. A small, stained glass window remained directly in front of her and she was quite close to the Transfiguration section of the library. Not many people occupied the section of desks, and the quietness that fell over her as she worked was difficult to find in the school.

As much as she wanted to spend her time getting even further ahead in Transfiguration, Alice knew she ought to bring her attention to the fact that she was having difficulty with her Charms homework. While she wasn't particularly bad at the subject, there was something that was keeping her from producing the results she strived to achieve. Whether it was because of the wand movements, her concentration, or the incantation itself, she didn't have a clue as to why the charms weren't working the way she wanted them to.

After about an hour of trying to levitate one of her books using one of the charms that would be used in tomorrow's class, Alice let loose a violent groan of frustration, bringing her forehead to rest against the cold wood of her desk. There was no way she would be able to sleep tonight with this annoyance on her mind.

"Are first years supposed to practice magic without teacher supervision?" A voice asked from behind her.

Alice almost fell off her chair with a forceful start at the sudden voice, slowly looking over her shoulder as she attempted to slow her rapid beating heart.

If the unexpected voice wasn't surprising enough, Alice had to blink a few times when her eyes landed on a familiar face. A face she had met in that library a few weeks ago. The boy was still handsome as he had been when they had first run into each other, literally. Everything about him was the same as it had been last time, the exception being that he actually had his tie done up properly.

"Well, are you going to tell?" Alice questioned after a moment, finding her words.

"No." Her answered simply.

"Much appreciated," she replied, turning her attention back to her desk. "It's not like I'm going to blow anything up, it's just a harmless charm."

"Charms can easily turn out bad if you're not careful."

"Exactly, that's why I'm being careful."

When she didn't hear him reply, Alice slowly glanced over her shoulder once again to see the boy softly smiling. Apparently he found her amusing.

"Do you need any help?"

"Thank you, but I'm alright."

"So I can trust that you're not going to set your desk on fire? Cause if not, I'll sit beside someone else."

If she hadn't been looking at his facial expression, Alice wouldn't have been sure if he was being serious or not. His attempt at hiding his tiny smirk was failing miserably and it was just barely leaking into his otherwise calm voice. Alice fought back the urge to laugh as well.

"I'm not that incompetent, you know."

"I figured as much, but just wanted to be sure," the boy answered. "If you need any help, the offer still stands."

Without another word, the boy moved out of her line of vision, to which Alice could hear him place his things down at the desk beside her. She was glad that there was a wooden divider between the tables, otherwise the boy would have seen her struggling to either remain stubborn and learn the charm on her own, or accept his offer of help in defeat. She could picture his proud face smiling at her victoriously as she gave in to his help. He didn't seem like he would be a jerk about it, but Alice was still nonetheless struggling to swallow her pride.

After about twenty minutes of internal debate, Alice let out a soft sigh of annoyance and gathered her things. Standing up from her desk, she left her section, walked past the divider and stared at the boy's back in hesitation. He was bent over his own work, but apparently felt her presence behind him, for he turned around and met her gaze with a soft smile.

"I feel bad bothering you, but I'm really struggling with this." Alice mumbled with a quick laugh leaving her lips, still standing awkwardly outside his cubicle.

"Have a seat," he said, nodding at the chair beside him. "I'm Cedric, by the way."

Softly placing her things beside his own books, Alice quickly sat down beside him before replying.

"Alice." She answered, giving him a thankful smile.

"I know who you are." Cedric stated, and she let out a sigh.

"Apparently everyone does," Alice mumbled. "Is that why you offered to help me?"

"No. I figured helping you out would make up for me running into you at full speed the other week."

Alice was surprised that he actually remembered the small incident. It was nice of him, to say the least.

"You really are a Hufflepuff," she stated, and he chuckled softly. "What year are you in? Third or fourth?"

"Third," he replied, placing his quill down on the desk. "I'm not trying to gloat, but Charms is one of my best subjects. Figured I'd be able to help."

Alice could tell that his words were genuine. She didn't know that many older students outside of those from her own house. Cedric appeared quite quiet from what she had observed of him, but there was definitely a bit of humour lurking behind his smiles.

"Well, I suppose you could say that Charms is my worst class."

"Best?"

"Hmm, Transfiguration or Potions. Too early to know for sure yet."

"Then it's too early to know if Charms is your worst."

It surprised Alice how easy Cedric made her situation seem. He spoke on the subject as if it were an old friend who had treated him kindly, and was easy to follow along with. She hadn't heard him speak so much in the short time that she'd known him, and could tell with the way he used his words and by his tone that he adored the subject. It was refreshing to speak with someone so calm and collected.

Much to her disbelief, it only took Cedric fifteen minutes before Alice finally figured it out.

"I was saying it wrong," she mumbled in awe, shocked that the problem was that simple. "Out of all the things that I thought I'd fixed, it was my words that messed up the entire incantation."

Cedric let out a soft chuckle at her reaction as the levitating book they had been practicing on finally drifted back down onto the desk.

"You're overanalyzing the charm," he said to her. "The frustration in your voice is what caused difficulties in producing it."

"Well," Alice sighed, leaning back in her chair. "At least I know now. Thank you for this."

"Of course."

After a few more minutes of idol chitchat, Alice stifled a yawn and bid Cedric goodbye so she could get some rest before dinner. The thought of curling under the sheets of her bed and drifting off into the numb state of sleep appeared almost too good to be true. Nonetheless, she managed to get to the common room without much of a hassle. Alice greeted a few of the students who sat by the fire before ascending up into her dormitory. Much to her luck, only Scarlett was the one who occupied the room. The kitten let out a soft meow as Alice crawled into bed and shut her eyes, her mind not finding the numbness that it yearned for.

Instead, she was greeted with a dream.

She didn't think much of it at first. It appeared to be a normal dream. She sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, her friends surrounding her with cheerful smiles on their faces. She'd never seen them so happy, and wanted to ask why they were content, but figured she would keep the question to herself. As long as they were happy, there was no reason to question it for the time being.

It took her a while, but she finally noticed the faint glow in Great Hall that seemed a bit out of place. The light was warm, but felt off in its presence. While she wanted to ignore it, the glow only appeared to get brighter and brighter as the seconds went by. After a moment, she finally turned around in her seat.

All conversation in the Great Hall had stopped. The students and professors were gazing at her in an unsettling way that made her skin crawl. However, what caught her attention was the giant fire that was burning near the entrance.

It almost looked like it was alive. The flames didn't belong to anyone in the room, but she felt an uneasy pull towards it. She didn't like where things were going, knowing that this was most likely a dream. As she pinched at her skin and smacked at her cheeks, Alice watched as three figures emerged from the flames.

The skin of their faces was burned black and their clothes were melted into their flesh. Their eyes were pretty much without any emotion, but the one thing she could pick up from them was the sadness. Disappointment, grief, sorrow, displeasure, and melancholy had taken form as Alice's now deceased family.

 _"Why would you do this to us?"_

 _"Did you hate us that much?"_

 _"All we did was give you love."_

 _"To think that we'd be killed…"_

 _"By one of our own…"_

 _"Is unacceptable!"_

The bodies flew in Alice's direction as the fire engulfed the entirety of the Great Hall and a shriek ripped from the deepest part of her throat, leading her to sit up straight in her bed and come back to reality.

Everyone must have gone to dinner, since the room was dark and unoccupied; the only difference was the lack of light coming from the sky and the fact that Alice was sweating buckets while on the verge of tears. That wasn't a dream, but a new nightmare. A new nightmare that made her feel almost worse than watching Harry's parents be murdered. There was a much more personal feeling to this new nightmare, and Alice felt the urge to vomit.

There was no way she was going to the Great Hall for dinner tonight.

* * *

Alice had been too tired to worry about her Charms class the following day. Harry, Ron, and Hermione appeared to be the only ones who had caught on to her more-tired-than-usual appearance. She attempted to calm their worries with a small smile as they all headed into Flitwick's class.

Somehow ending up between Seamus and Dean, Alice let out a quiet sigh as she waited for the class to begin.

"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation," Professor Flitwick began, standing atop his stack of books just like the last time they had class. "Or, the affinity to make objects fly. Now, do you all have your feathers?"

Staring down at the white feather that sat in front of her on her desk, Alice watched out of the corner of her eye as all the students nod their heads.

"Good! Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing. The swish…and flick! Everyone."

All the students reached for their wands, some more rushed than others. Hermione was one of them, her excitement obvious to even the blindest wizard. Alice grabbed her own wand and practiced the movement with everyone else.

"Swish and flick!" The class said all at once, to which the professor looked rather pleased.

"Good! Oh, and enunciate 'Wingardium Leviosa'. Off you go, then."

Each and every student picked up their wands and began their attempts at getting their feather to levitate. Many of the incantations that Alice could hear sounded completely botched and incorrect, but she attempted to steady her focus on her own pronunciation.

"Look, stop, stop, stop. You're going to take someone's eye out!" Hermione said to Ron from Alice's left, who was waving his wand around like a mad man. "Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's 'Leviosa, not 'Leviosah'."

"You do it then, if you're so clever," Ron replied, eyes narrowed and voice annoyed. "Go on, go on!"

Alice could sympathize with Ron on his mispronunciation; she had been struggling with it only yesterday. If even one exaggeration on the wrong syllable were uttered, the charm would either backfire or not work at all. It had only been luck that she'd ran into Cedric yesterday, who just so happened to be talented in Charms.

She wasn't exactly surprised when Hermione's feather rose in the air.

"Oh, well done, Miss Granger!" Professor Flitwick cheered, watching in awe as the feather flew higher and higher.

Ron looked absolutely furious.

Turning back to the feather in front of her, Alice felt her grip tighten around her wand. She could do this, she hadn't wasted both her and Cedric's time yesterday to have their efforts fall short or provide nothing at all.

Alice took in a deep breath and waved her wand, pointing the end at the feather. Nothing. Another attempt was made, yet once again the feather failed to move. She was baffled as to why it wasn't working, she was saying it just like Cedric had showed her.

 _"You're overanalyzing the charm."_

Hearing his voice clear as day in her head, Alice let out another strong breath before trying for the third time.

It was only when the feather was halfway in the air did she come to terms that she had actually succeeded. A calmness fell over her like a blanket and the feather appeared to soar even higher than before.

"Wonderful, Miss Fairfax. Simply wonderful!" She heard Flitwick praise, but she did not dare look away from her feather.

Somehow managing to bring the feather back down onto her desk, Alice finally let out another shaky breath that she didn't even know she was holding. Dean turned to her and questioned her endlessly; unconvinced when she told him she didn't know how.

Before Dean could pester her anymore, a large bang sounded from exactly beside Alice, causing her left ear to become deaf for a moment. Flinching away and closing her eyes, she and everyone else in the classroom turned their attention to Seamus, who's feather was burned black and soot covered his face. She chuckled softly, this being the second time that the Irish boy had caused something to explode.

"I think we're going to need another feather over here, professor." Harry mumbled from the opposite side of Seamus, soot resting on the side of his face from the explosion.

Seamus's mishap pretty much ended the class for everyone. Alice spent the majority of it cleaning off the boy's face with multiple cloths that had been provided by the professor. Flitwick seemed hesitant to go anywhere near the poor boy, along with the rest of the students who didn't consider him a close friend.

"I can't believe I've done it again." The Irish boy mumbled as Alice finished wiping off the last bit of soot from his cheek.

"It's alright, Seamus. You're here to learn, and that's what you're doing," she tried to reassure him. "Do you mind switching spots with me for a moment? I ought to clean up Harry's face as well."

The boy complied without a word, slowly getting up and taking the seat that Alice had previous occupied, getting into conversation with his best friend. Nudging the still somewhat dazed Harry, the young Fairfax girl gave a quiet laugh.

"You seem a bit blown away." Alice joked, earning a tiny smile from the boy.

"So do you, though you seem to be handling it better," Harry replied, eyes flicking down to her cheek. "You've got some on your cheek as well."

"I'll clean it up after," she assured him. "Now, stay still so I can get what's left of Seamus's feather off your face."

With a new cloth in hand, it didn't take nearly as long as it had with Seamus to get all the dirt off Harry's skin, although he seemed much stiffer. Alice knew he was watching her from behind his round glasses and wondered if she was making him uncomfortable, but decided to get the job done as fast as possible and not ask any questions.

"Done," she declared after a few moments, placing the dirty cloth amongst the others that remained on the desk. "I feel like class should be over by now. Flitwick looks a bit terrified so I'm assuming the lesson is over."

"Could you pass me one of the cloths?" Harry questioned and she gave him a look.

"Why do you need one? I already got it off for you." Alice said, but handed him a cloth regardless.

"It's not for me, it's for you."

"Harry, I can do it myself-"

"You did it for me, let me do this in return."

Alice grumbled a few complaints under her breath, but nonetheless turned her dirtied cheek in her friend's direction.

As he began to rub the fabric along her cheek, she realized why Harry had become so stiff when she had been doing the same to him. It was uncomfortable to be under such a look of intensity, feeling as if all your flaws were exposed. Of course, she would have felt that way with anyone looking at her like that, but the fact that it was Harry only made it worse. She couldn't help but shift uncomfortably in her chair and let out a sigh of relief when the bell went off.

"I think I got most of it." Harry concluded, pulling away from Alice's personal space.

"Thank you, Harry." She gave him a half smile before getting up from her chair.

Returning the dirty cloths to Professor Flitwick before sauntering out of the classroom with Hermione by her side, Alice walked behind the group of Gryffindor first year boys. She was looking forward to spending another afternoon in the library, hoping that she would run into Cedric again to tell him the good news and thank him once again.

"' _It's Leviooosa, not Leviosaaah'_ ," Alice heard Ron imitating what Hermione had said to him earlier. "She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends."

Feeling her eyes narrow into slits, Alice watched as Hermione picked up her pace from beside her and knocked into Ron's shoulder before storming away. Alice knew she was upset, she had every right to be. While Hermione tended to have a bossy tone in her voice, she didn't mean anything by it. It was simply how she was. Alice wondered if Hermione had had friends before coming to Hogwarts, and the thought made her sad.

Yet, the anger resurfaced once again.

"Really, Ron?" Alice hissed at him as she caught up with the boys. "What's the matter with you? She was just trying to help you!"

"She needs to get off of that imaginary pedestal she's given herself." Ron replied harshly.

"Oh, bugger off with that. I told you, she means well!" She replied, eyes narrowing at all the boys who were laughing with Ron, especially at Harry for not saying anything. "And another thing, she has got friends, or did you forget about me?"

Without giving the boys another chance to speak, Alice ran off in the direction she had seen Hermione go. She had a feeling that her friend wouldn't go to the common room, since there wouldn't be much privacy. Hermione had appeared to be crying, so the library was not an option. With the way she was headed, Alice could only assume that Hermione had gone to the girl's bathroom.

Walking in through the large archway that led into the washroom, she could tell that the place was pretty much deserted. Soft and barely audible cries could be heard coming from one of the stalls. Alice let out a sigh and approached the second last stall in the bathroom before knocking softly on the door.

"Hermione, it's me."

"Go away, Alice. I want to be alone."

"I'm not leaving you alone in a bathroom crying by yourself," she replied, leaning against the stall door. "Forget what Ron said, he's an idiot. His words aren't true."

"Maybe I really am a nightmare to be around…"

"You really aren't, Hermione. Sure, maybe you come across as a bit harsh sometimes, but I know you mean well."

"But…he's right about me not having friends."

"No he's not. We're friends aren't we?" Alice said, moving away from the stall and perching herself on the edge of one of the sinks. "You were the first friend I made here, Hermione. I didn't even have friends back when I was still living with my family. The only friend I really had was the old bookstore keeper in town. The kids in town wanted nothing to do with me, and I wanted nothing to do with them. Their parents treated me as if I were a prized possession and not a real kid, so their children did the same-"

Alice was cut off by the stall door being thrown open and a puffy faced Hermione hurling herself at the blonde girl. Pulling her into a tight hug, Hermione continued to cry softly in her arms.

"The kids at my school didn't talk with me either," Hermione admitted quietly, still hugging Alice tightly. "I loved learning and they treated me like a freak for it."

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. That's horrible."

"What's horrible is how the children in your town treated you like an object!" Hermione cried, pulling away and looking Alice in the eyes. "You're so much more than your last name, Alice. I really hope you know that. Even though all the Gryffindors treat you kindly, it's because of who you are and not where you came from. You proved that the day you played everyone in wizard's chess."

At this point, Alice had gone silent. It was true; the reaction she had gotten from her housemates had been overwhelmingly positive. They treated her like family, and would always say hello to her in the hallways when they didn't need to. Of course, there were a few students from the other houses who were a bit hesitant in regards to who she was, but it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. She had her own house to look after her, and she couldn't help but feel her eyes water slightly.

"Honestly, I'm sort of jealous of you," Hermione admitted, bringing Alice back to the conversation in bewilderment. "You get along with everyone without even trying. How do you do it?"

Alice wasn't quite sure why herself, but she figured she owed Hermione some sort of answer.

"Well," she said, letting out a large exhale. "I think it comes down to the fact that I look at our housemates as family. The only family I have is my godfather, and I'm grateful to have him in my life, but it's not everything. I see everyone as brothers and sisters, and I enjoy having genuine conversations with them. I like hearing about their favourite books, or their favourite hobby, or their favourite way to mess with Filtch."

Hermione let out a quick laugh, knowing fully well whom Alice was referring to with her last example.

"I like hearing about what people have to say. Everyone has a different story to be told, and maybe that makes me naïve, but I still enjoy it," Alice continued. "Maybe it comes down to the fact that I listen more than speak. I'm not exactly introverted, I have my extroverted moments, but hearing people's stories is a wonderful feeling. It makes a much bigger connection between you and the person telling the story than you might think."

"So I should listen more than speak?" Hermione questioned.

"You can still speak," Alice said, giving her a smile. "Maybe just listen a bit more to what the people around you are saying. Be more open to connection. If you're willing, it'll happen on its own."

Hermione nodded quietly, taking in everything that Alice had said. She genuinely hoped she had helped her bushy-haired friend in some way. Alice considered her the best friend she'd always wanted, and hopefully Hermione felt the same.

"Thank you for coming to find me," Hermione spoke up. "I feel a lot better after talking about things. I appreciate the support."

"That's what best friends are for, right?" Alice said, though Hermione's shocked expression startled her a bit. What if she didn't consider the blonde as a best friend? Did she just freak her out?

"I've never had a best friend before," Hermione muttered. "Do you really think of me as your best friend?"

"Of course I do."

Alice had never seen Hermione smile that big.

"I consider you the same."

For some reason, Alice didn't know why, but the two of them continued talking the entire time in the girl's washroom. Hermione told her about where she grew up and a little bit about her muggle parents, who were apparently dentists. Feeling the need to share some of her own stories, Alice told her about Mr. Hugo and his bookstore, along with all the fantastic books she had read while she'd lived in Godric's Hollow. She talked about her brother and how annoying he had been towards her, but how he'd been overall a wonderful, caring sibling. Alice even talked about her parents, which she rarely did. Trying her best to talk about them without getting emotion proved to be a difficult task, but Hermione didn't judge her when a few tears had leaked from the blonde's eyes. It felt refreshing, being able to talk so openly to one another. It was as if, finally, they were becoming true friends.

Hours had passed and both girls could tell that it was around dinnertime. Neither of them felt hungry or made a move to go to the Great Hall. They were still enjoying each other's company, sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor without a care in the world. However, there was something that was bothering Alice.

"Do you find it odd that nobody has come to use this washroom?" She spoke up, eyeing the entrance of the bathroom.

"Now that you mention it, yes," Hermione replied, giving Alice a look of confusion. "Wait, listen. Do you hear that?"

Alice wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to be hearing, but nonetheless quieted down and listened carefully. At first, she didn't hear a single thing, but after a few moments, the sound of slow but short rumbles. Alice wondered if maybe it was the pipes being temperamental, but she knew that wasn't the case when the sound began getting louder and the floor began to shake softly with each boom. Turning her attention to Hermione, Alice's own concern was reflected in her brown eyes. Something was coming in their direction, and whatever it was didn't sound pleasant.

Opening her mouth in order to voice her unease, Alice stopped when she caught a glimpse of something, large and monstrous walking through the archway into the bathroom.

Having spent a fair amount of time reading about the creatures in the magical world, Alice knew immediately what it was. It's grey skin and height were as startling as she had expected, but the club in it's hand shot more fear through her than what she would like to admit. It's eyes were small compared to it's colossal size, but they still managed to spot the girl's in a heartbeat.

What in the world was a troll doing wandering through the halls?

Before the troll could get any closer to them, Alice quickly pulled Hermione into one of the stalls with her. How she thought it would increase their chances of getting out of the situation in one piece, she didn't know. All she knew was that they needed something between them.

It's loud groans of frustration echoed through the bathroom, the tops of the stalls exploding into small splinters of wood as the two girls both screamed. Covered in debris and wreckage, Alice felt pain shoot through her left leg.

"Alice! Hermione! Move!"

Surprised by the familiar voice, the two girls began crawling through the debris towards the other stalls for cover, only for the troll to smash those as well. Leaning her back against the way with Hermione beside her, Alice saw pieces of stall being thrown at the troll's head. She turned her attention to the entrance of the bathroom to see both Harry and Ron trying to get the troll's attention.

It worked for a moment, but the troll spotted Hermione crawling away from the wreckage to underneath one of the sinks.

"Hermione, no!" Alice shrieked, still amongst the debris and the pain getting worse in her leg. It hurt even moving it an inch.

The troll brought its club down near Hermione, smashing through one of the porcelain sinks as she let out another scream. Without thinking much of anything, Alice used her upper body to crawl through what remained of the bathroom stalls towards the troll, panic flashing through her eyes. She grabbed a piece of debris and with all her might, plunged it into the troll's two-toed foot.

A violent moan left the troll's mouth, his attention now on her. As he swung his club back once again, Alice rolled out of the way as the wooden weapon barely missed her. When she brought her attention back up to the troll, she was quite surprised and worried when she saw Harry sitting on its shoulders behind its head. Shaking aggressively in an attempt to get the boy of its shoulders, the troll only succeeded in getting Harry's wand plunged up its nose. Alice couldn't help but scrunch up her face in disgust.

Through her fuzzy vision that was only getting worse, Alice watched as the troll shook around once again, successfully getting Harry in its grasp and hanging him upside down.

"Do something!" Harry yelled, just barely avoiding being struck by the massive club.

"What?!" Ron screamed back in despair.

"Anything!"

Alice managed to make out Ron pulling out his wand before all noise faded from her conscious mind. A ringing had begun in her ears and her eyelids felt extremely heavy. She was scared for her friends, wanted to help them, but the pain in her leg was only getting worse. The only thing she felt besides the pain was slight warmth in her fingertips before darkness swallowed her whole.

* * *

 _Whelp, low key just injured my OC and I am trying real hard not to feel bad about it lol._

 _That's another chapter done! I hope it was up to everyone's standards. As always, feedback is always appreciated. I love hearing from you guys :)_

 _Again, I'm so sorry for the lack of chapters. I hope you guys understand. I will try my absolute best to get back on track with the updating schedule but my brain has just not been cooperating with me._

 _Until next time,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	11. A Visit For Healing

_Hello everyone!_

 _I hope all of you are doing well. I apologize for the shortish chapter, but I wanted to put a divide between Alice getting better and Harrys first Quidditch match, if that makes any sense. My life continues to be a bit hectic, so I'm very sorry for not being as consistent with updates like I should be. I just finished applying to University and am currently dealing with the fact that my childhood home is being sold, which is hitting me harder than what I expected. A part of me feels as though I am falling away from this series, yet the other part thinks this isn't the case. If anything, I'm anxious to get writing and progressing the story, though I have so many ideas that it's almost overwhelming lol_

 _A huge thank you to Grummelnut, Lisa Cooper, Mizu Kouken, hitvinw, and nagoth for following/favouriting the story. As always, your support is something so dear to me, so thank you for following me on this journey!_

 _For reviews,_

 _madwamoose: ooooh I'm so glad the chapter made up for my absence! Thank you for putting up with my odd publishing schedule as of late. As for Alice, I don't think I have the heart to ever permanently injure my OC lol hopefully I'll never have to ;-; I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter, which will be the first Quidditch match of the year. :)_

 _something526: gosh you guys are so understand thank you very much! I'm happy that this chapter made up for my lack of presence as well. I was originally just going to include Alice getting better in this chapter, but your comment made me think about writing a little snippet of things through Mr. Potter's perspective, just to make things a little interesting lol_

 _Lisa Cooper: lmao the struggles of growing up as a witch. Thank you for joining me as I write this story with everyone. I am always thankful for the support that has been shown for this fic. It's good to hear that this story for you has been able to distract you from your life. I personally write to help deal with the anxiety and stress that seems to keep appearing in my life, so to hear that it is helping you, even if it is only by a little bit, is wonderful to hear. Thank you for the kind words :)_

 _Honestly, I wasn't exactly thrilled with how this chapter turned out but by adding the little part through Harry's POV, it appeared to be the missing piece this chapter needed._

 _Enjoy my lovelies~_

* * *

 _Harry's Prospective_

How Ron had managed to use the levitation charm and knock out the troll in the bathroom was beyond Harrys own understanding. One minute, he was being held up in the air by the horrid beast and just barely missing being demolished by it's club, and the next he was on the ground with the troll almost crushing him as it fell unconscious. There was still dust in the air and nothing remained where the bathroom stalls once remained. The sink that the troll had broken was spraying water in the air with Hermione no longer under it. In fact, the bushy-haired girl had crawled over to Alice, who was sitting up right against the fair all with her head lolling to the side.

Harry figured as though the girl was resting, but quickly changed his mind when he heard Hermione yelling at them as he slowly pulled his wand from the nostril of the troll.

"Harry! Ron! Alice is hurt!"

The boy didn't even glance over at Ron as he made his way through the remains of the stalls towards the two girls, his stomach quivering and his chest tight. Watching as Hermione shook Alice by the shoulders to try and wake her up, Harry had almost missed the piece of stall sticking out from the blonde's leg.

"Bloody hell!" Ron practically cried out, his eyes taking in the state of their friend.

It wasn't what Harry had expected at all. Pieces of wood were in Alice's hair and a layer of dust covered her face. She looked extremely pale, almost deathly, which made the young boy worry even more. He could barely bring himself to look at her leg. The blood had stained her robes and was being washed away by the water spraying out form the broken sink. The piece of wood that was lodged through the fabric of her robes and into her leg was much larger than Harry had thought as he crouched down beside the two girls.

"She's not waking up," Hermione muttered, worry filling her eyes. "I think she's losing too much blood."

Harry didn't know what to do. He knew that they had to get her help, but they wouldn't be able to move her on her own, not without hurting her even more. The realization that his friend might actually die from this hit him like a freight train, leading to him unconsciously placing his hand over hers.

Her skin was warm. Way too warm for someone who was losing blood as fast as she was. The light movements of her chest told him that she was still alive, while the warmth told him something else. It was almost like something was keeping her alive, hence the heat in his hands. It made him wonder if there was more to Alice's fire abilities than they knew.

"Oh my word!"

The three of them glanced over their shoulders to spot Professor McGonagall staring down at the unconscious troll, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell by the witch's side. The looked absolutely horrified by the sight in front of them, even before they looked over and noticed Alice's condition.

"What in Godric's name happened here?" McGonagall questioned, coming closer to the four of them. It was only when the professor got a clearer look at Alice that her face fell even further. "Severus, we need to get this girl to the Hospital Wing immediately."

There wasn't much talk of the troll as they teachers figured out how to get Alice out of the bathroom without hurting her anymore than she already was. Harry didn't think for a moment that they were getting out of this situation without having a stern scolding from Professor McGonagall.

It was only when Snape and Quirrell left with that McGonagall turned to them.

"We will discuss this once Miss Fairfax is in the Hospital Wing." Was all the older witch said to them before following after her coworkers.

The trio were left standing outside the washroom in shocked silence, trying to understand what they had just gone through. While Ron and Hermione managed to have a small conversation that didn't involve bickering for once, all Harry could think about was the well being of his friend. The possibility of losing her when they had barely even started getting to know each other was almost too much for Harry to bear. He couldn't even think about what he'd do about his nightmares if Alice weren't there to provide reassurance.

Unsurprisingly, he had one of the most vivid nightmares he'd ever experience.

And of course they involved his young blonde friend.

* * *

 _Alice's Prospective_

Warm. That's the only way she could describe how she felt as the heavy blanket that was oblivion was lifted off of her body. The ends of her fingertips were tingling, moving slowly along soft bed sheets. There was a light on the other side of her eyelids, which worried her slightly. It was incredibly bright and demanded to be acknowledged. For a moment, she believed as though she were dead, but the tingle behind her eyes and the soft thumping of her heart reassured her that she was still in the land of the living.

It wasn't until she had slowly begun moving her limbs that Alice felt the pain. It shot from her thigh all the way down her leg, but it subsided as soon as it came. It was nowhere near as excruciating as it had been when she'd been in the girl's bathroom with her friends.

And the troll.

Eyelids flying open and panic flooding her system, Alice lifted her upper body off the mattress of the bed she was currently occupying, which evidently wasn't her own. White walls and pillars attacked her retinas in a somewhat harsh manner, a grimace contorting on the young girl's face. When the shock to her system melted away, her eyes fell on the rows of white beds and draw-able curtains for privacy. Long glass windows let in the sunlight from outside, amplifying the harshness of the all-white room. It surprised her that the sun was in the sky. How long had she been out for?

"Good morning, dearie."

Hearing the soft _click clack_ of pumps hitting the floor, Alice spotted an older looking woman dressed in nursing attire, white apron and all. Her grey hair jutted out from under her nurses' cap. A kind smile played on the ends of her mouth as she brought over a tray with water and some sort of bottle, containing a dark liquid.

"Are my friends okay?!" Alice almost yelled at the woman, though her dry throat betrayed her as her words came out as more of a squeak.

"The three that keep coming to see you?" The woman asked, an almost annoyed tone gracing her voice. "If they are whom you speak of, then I suppose yes."

Alice sighed, leaning back on her pillows with relief. Her friends were okay and alive; that was the only thing she hoped for. Though, she was sure that her nerves would remain until she saw the trio with her own eyes.

"It must have been quite the endeavor. Minerva looked horrified."

"Professor McGonagall was here?"

"Of course. She was worried sick! Good thing they brought you to me when they did, you lost quite a lot of blood."

So McGonagall had been the one to find the four of them in the girl's washroom. While Alice can imagine the witch had most likely given her friends a stern talking to, but of all the professors to find them, she was glad it was the older witch.

The second thing that hit her was the mention of her losing a lot of blood. Feeling a bit hesitant at taking a look at her leg, Alice swallowed the lump in her throat and moved the sheets out of the way to reveal her bandaged thigh. It appeared as though it had been recently changed.

"You're a lucky girl. The piece of wood that was stuck in your leg didn't hit any arteries." The woman spoke up again, relief evident in her voice.

"How long have I been here?" Alice questioned, placing the covers back over her leg.

"In the Hospital Wing? Two days. Thankfully it hasn't been too busy here. My only patients are you and the boy over there that has a case of the mumblemumps."

"Thank you for looking after me…?"

"Madame Pomfrey," the woman clarified for her. "Matron here at Hogwarts."

It was nice to meet the witch, though Alice wished it were under different circumstances. While Madame Pomfrey was kind to her, she was quite stern when it came to the patients under her care. The witch made Alice drink the dark liquid from the bottle she'd brought over, which was probably the worst thing the young girl had ever tasted. She was very glad that Madame Pomfrey had brought her water to get rid of the aftertaste, the older witch informing her to get some rest before her friends could come barging in to see her.

To say that she was bored out of her mind sitting in the Hospital Wing alone was an understatement. Alice had no book to read, no kitten to play with, and no friends to talk with. That was, unless she wanted to have a conversation with the boy three bunks over who could barely talk above a whisper. Even if she tried, Madame Pomfrey would tell her to quiet down and focus on getting better.

After a while, the young girl began to feel quite tired. Perhaps it had something to do with that horrid drink the older witch had given her, or maybe it was simply the fact that her body and mind were exhausted. A lot had gone on during the past few days and she couldn't help but comply with her heavy eyelids as she let them fall shut.

As soon as she had closed them, Alice heard a few pairs of feet running down one of the nearby hallways. With the heavy creak of the doors that lead into the Hospital Wing and the irritated warnings coming from Madame Pomfrey, the hurried footsteps got louder and louder. The young girl wondered if someone had gotten hexed or something and had to be brought to the Hospital Wing. A part of Alice hoped that that person was Malfoy.

However, she had been deeply wrong. The worried and somewhat exhausted faces of Harry, Hermione and Ron came into view of her own tired gaze as they quickly rushed over to her.

"Alice, you're awake!" Hermione concluded happily, grabbing ahold of the young girl's hand.

"We thought you were a goner!" Ron said, only to be elbowed by the other two. "Come on, there was a lot of blood! You must've thought the same."

"Even so, you shouldn't say it aloud!" Hermione scolded him.

"Especially when she's sitting in the Hospital Wing." Harry said, giving Alice an apologetic smile for his friend's sake.

She hadn't realized how much she had missed them until they were right in front of her. They made the pain in her leg more bearable and the fatigue less apparent, a smile splitting across her face as she watched them.

"I'm glad that you're all okay," Alice spoke up. "What happened in the bathroom though? I passed out halfway through."

"Ron managed to levitate the troll's club and drop it on its head," Hermione explained, smiling softly. "It got knocked out and collapsed. Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Professor Quirell found us there."

"Hermione took the blame, got five house points taken away but Harry and I got five back each!" Ron exclaimed, though his smile faltered. "That's when we spotted you. We hadn't seen that you'd gotten injured. A piece of the stall was sticking out of your leg and it…"

"It wasn't good," Harry continued for his friend. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired and sore," Alice said, trying to ignore the content sensation in her chest by being asked such a normal question. She didn't know why, but she suspected that it had something to do with the person asking the question. "Really, really bored. There's nothing to do here!"

"You're supposed to be resting." Hermione stated.

"I know, but would it be a crime to go get a book from my trunk and come back? I don't think so."

Her three friends laughed and that's when Alice noticed that the previous tension between Hermione and the two boys had dissipated. It made her heart soar at the thought of her friends getting along. Of course, there was no way that the bickering between Ron and Hermione would ever go away but deep down, Alice never wanted it to.

The trio kept her company for a good hour, the time being spent either by telling Alice about the new prank the twins had managed to pull or how Seamus had managed to make another explosion during McGonagall's class. By the end of it, she was laughing so hard that her sides had begun to ache and tears had threaten to fall. It got to the point where Madame Pomfrey had to kick the three of them out for being so loud.

Alice was sad to see her friends go, the emptiness they left behind hung unpleasantly in the air. She couldn't help but feel thankful for all the wonderful people she'd had the pleasure of meeting and calling them friends. Two months ago, she'd only known a handful of people and magically, that handful had turn into two handfuls. She'd always known that there would be pleasure in having friends if she ever had the chance to acquire some, but she had no idea what she had been missing. The joy of having people to rely on, people to laugh and cry with, to share memories with, and to grow up with had seemed to be a far away star out of reach. The fact that she now had that same star in the palm of her hands was almost overwhelming, silently wondering if life was playing a cruel trick on her, worried that in the blink of an eye everything would be taken away from her.

Yet, everyday, she was greeted with the same wonderful faces of her friends.

Alice had drifted asleep almost immediately after the trio had left, the Hospital Wing falling silent once again. She had a dreamless sleep for the first time in what felt like forever, her mind obviously too tired to come up with a nightmare like it usually would.

A part of her regretted going to sleep in the afternoon, because when the young girl woke up, wide away and ready to go, it was the middle of the night. She could hear the boy three bunks down snoring obnoxiously loud and Madame Pomfrey appeared to be nowhere in sight. It was nice to be left alone for a moment without having the older witch monitoring her every move. Alice needed to do something or she would lose her mind from boredom. Every fiber of her was awake, the pain in her leg almost unnoticeable now, even when she moved it.

She needed to stretch. There was a cramp in her back that was giving her more pain than the injury in her thigh. Knowing deep down that the idea was stupid and would probably result in her crumpling to the floor, Alice carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed. With both hands placed firmly on the mattress for balance, the young girl allowed her feet to touch the cold tiles beneath her. Putting the majority of her weight on her right leg, she managed to stand up straight without falling over.

"Alice, what are you doing?"

The sudden voice made her almost lose her balance, her hands grabbing hold of the edge of the side table as she searched for the whoever spoke to her. Standing a little ways away from her bunk stood Harry, clothed in his blue pajamas and hair slightly rustled. Alice let out a sigh and sat back down on the edge of her bed.

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied, rubbing at her eye. "Why are you out of bed?"

"Had a nightmare, couldn't get back to sleep."

"That doesn't explain why you're here."

When she didn't get an answer, Alice looked over at her friend in question. A hand was held out to her, a golden-bound book wrapped in his grasp. She thought the book had been familiar, especially when she saw the silver dragon on the front of it.

"You mentioned earlier that you were bored, so I brought you one of your books," Harry stated, coming over and sitting beside her on the bed. "Of course, I didn't go get it myself. I asked Hermione to get it for me."

"So you were planning to come back here regardless?"

"Yeah, I suppose you could say that."

Alice hesitantly took the book from Harry, feeling a sort of sadness sink into her chest. She hadn't touched any of her own books since she'd arrived at Hogwarts, not the ones in the curriculum at least. It made her think of Mr. Hugo and his bookstore, the need to visit the man again ever so strong in her chest. It had been years since she'd spoken to him. Of course, they always talked through mail, but it wasn't the same. She missed him and his old books.

"Thank you, Harry," Alice mumbled, giving the boy a smile as she looked back up at him. "This was very sweet of you."

"Hermione didn't know which one to take," Harry explained, ringing his hands as he laughed. "She said there were at least ten different books in your trunk."

"I've always loved books. Have so ever since I was younger," Alice explained, chuckling softly as well. "I might not have read as many books as Hermione, but I definitely love them as much as she does."

"And what is this one about?" Harry asked, looking down at the book.

"Different dragon species," she stated, not noticing his eyes go wide in shock until she looked over at him for a reply. "Don't tell me you didn't know dragons were real!"

Before she knew it, Alice had gone off on a tangent about dragons and other mythical creatures that were actually real. She told him about her favourite book and how she had learned the majority of her information on beasts from its pages. Alice even told him how she had lost it in the house fire, but quickly diverged back on path. There were a few times where she'd wondered if she was boring Harry, but the young boy looked absolutely blown away. The look only encouraged her to continue, and continue she did for at least a half hour.

"So, hippogriffs are real too?" Harry questioned, eyebrows raised and eyes wide.

"We learn about them in third year." Alice smiled, laughing at the boy's reaction.

"I love magic." He mumbled and she nodded in agreement.

The two fell into a silence that was on the line between comfortable and somewhat tense, the possibilities in regards to which direction their conversation could go were a bit worrying. Of course, having difficult discussions were always important, but they had just spent the last half hour together laughing and enjoying each other's company. She didn't want to talk about anything worrisome, but Alice knew that Harry did.

"Have you had anymore nightmares?"

Alice let out a soft sigh at the question.

"Yes, though I've been having a new one as of late."

"About what?"

"My parents."

Harry didn't need to asked anymore questions, knowing whatever had to do with her parents showing up in her nightmare was not something pleasant.

"And you? You said you had a nightmare." Alice asked, looking over at the boy.

"Same one as usual," Harry replied, gazing down at his hands. "You'd think you'd get used to or tired of seeing the same thing over and over again…"

"But you never do."

The boy nodded silently. It was horrid, seeing someone else go through the same thing you were, but in a sense comforting, knowing that you weren't alone in the struggle. She had a great respect for the boy beside her and she felt as though she'd known him her whole life. A part of her couldn't believe that they had avoided each other at the beginning of the year. That seemed like such a long time ago now.

"Thank you for being talking with me about everything, Harry." Alice said without really thinking, the boy looking over at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" He questioned, eyeing her carefully.

"It's hard to explain but thank you for being so understanding," she continued, trying to find her words. "There are so many weird things going on with the two of us, but I'm glad we're not avoiding each other anymore. As much as it's not ideal, it's nice to be able to talk with someone who knows what's going on in the background. The whole thing with our nightmares, and me having an odd affinity with fire, I appreciate your kindness and consideration. It makes me feel more at peace."

The fact that Harry didn't answer right away caused the anxiety in Alice's chest to skyrocket and hit the moon. She worried that she had freaked him out or had been too honest with him, but was hoping that he was simply taking the time to process her words.

"Do you feel like we've known each other for a long time?"

Harry's sudden question threw her off, Alice's mouth opening in surprise as she glanced back over at him.

"Yes."

"Me too," he stated, staring off into space. "It's odd, considering that we don't know much about each other but still know things about the other that nobody else does."

"It makes you wonder."

"Yes. Yes, it does," Harry agreed, finally looking over at her. "I'm glad we became friends."

Alice's response came in the form of a large smile that stretched from ear to ear. The amount of joy that spread through her system was almost unreasonable, but she didn't seem to care. The boy with black hair and green eyes that hide behind round specs had been the focus of her worst nightmares for the longest time was now one of her closest friends. She would have never thought in a million years that things would turn out this way, but she didn't argue.

"So, when are you free to leave the Hospital Wing?" Harry asked after a moment, breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure, hopefully soon."

"Well whenever it is, you'd better come to my Quidditch game on Friday."

Alice had been so caught up with schoolwork and what happened in the troll that she had almost forgotten about Harry's first official game.

"Of course I'll be there!"

"Good," he replied, sending her another quick smile. "Well, I ought to go back to the common room and get some sleep."

"Yes. Thank you again for the book and speaking with me."

"Thank you for making me excited for third year."

With a soft laugh, Alice waved goodbye to Harry as he bid her goodnight. The door of the Hospital Wing silently opened and shut, leaving Alice alone once again. She felt a hundred times better after talking with Harry, any worry or pain that was bothering her was suddenly not as prominent in her mind. All she could think about as she laid back down again was of how lucky she was to have a friend like the Boy Who Lived.

* * *

 _Ahhhh so cheesy I'm sorry, I couldn't help it ;-;_

 _Thank you once again for putting up with my odd uploading schedule. As always, I'd love to hear feedback from you guys, whether it be good or bad, or just to say hi. i promise I don't bite lol_

 _I hope you're all doing well._

 _Until the next update,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


	12. To Catch A Golden Snitch

_Friendos!_

 _This chapter was supposed to go up yesterday but I had a pretty bad shift at work and I was low key moody and I didn't want to transfer that negativity into my work so I decided to wait a day. It appeared to turn out well though, since I feel pretty happy with this chapter and man is it longer than the others I've written holy mother of god._

 _Thank you to Icanlovegood, JediGemini, Butterfly007, Kennan592, ReadingAnyhow, djmegamouth, and shinoyukine27 for following/favouriting the story! As always, it encourages me to write for you all so the support is always appreciated!_

 _On to reviews,_

 _DarkDust27: hehe I'm hoping them being a-dork-able is a good thing! I honestly couldn't tell if it was too cheesy or not. Apparently I'm a cheese ball, or so others say to me lol ;-;_

 _madwamoose: Thrilled to hear you enjoyed the chapter, fam! xoxo_

 _something526: Ahhh I'm glad it was a good type of cheesy (sorry for making your friend concerned lmaoo). In canon, i always felt bad for Harry, since he had to put up with a lot all on his own. That's one of the reasons why I got the idea to start this fic. i was like "how would things have turned out if harry had someone to help him along with those kinds of things?" It played a huge part in me beginning this fic. My friend, I wish you the best with your applications to university! I'm waiting for my acceptance/rejection letter as well. Thank you for the kind words, smiling like an idiot right now lol. Cheers!_

 _Lisa Cooper: To hear you say that you feel the relationship building nicely between Harry and Alice is like a dream to me. When I've read fics in the past, I've always loved those that build a strong relationship first before diving into anything else, whether it be romantic or not. It so important and brings so much more meaning to even the smallest of actions, so hearing you say this about something that I've written is one of the ultimate compliments for me, so thank you so so much. No need to apologize for your grammar, I'm not that great with mine sometimes too lol. SO pleased to hear you enjoyed the chapter, thank you so much for the kind words!_

 _Geez, you guys are a blessing. I know I say this almost every chapter, maybe multiple times in each chapter, but thank you for everything. Writing is one of the few things that makes me truly happy and to hear that you're enjoying the story makes everything worth while. I've been writing for years, but i never showed my work to anyone, and never even thought of posting any of my own work out of a personal fear of being told I wasn't good enough. I know my writing isn't perfect, but I'm so glad I decided to start posting some of my writing. Thank you all for inspiring me to write more and to be creative._

 _Thank you from the bottom of my heart~_

* * *

Alice hadn't realized how much of a prisoner she truly was until she had been denied from leaving the Hospital Wing for the fourth time in two days. Madame Pomfrey was unwavering in her decision to keep her for another day, saying that the young witch still needed time to rest. It wasn't that Alice was bored there, considering that she still had the book Harry had brought her a few days ago, but it was the fact that the Matron of Hogwarts had kept the trio from coming to visit her until she was well again. A few days had passed since she had last seen them and Alice was able to walk around freely without feeling any reminisce of pain. That was what bothered her the most. She was fine and back on her feet, but the older witch still kept her there. It was frustrating to say the least, knowing the importance of the date.

Since today was the day of the Quidditch game.

In other words, Harry's first game.

"Madame Pomfrey, please!" Alice begged for the fifth time. "My leg is fine, I'm able to walk, and there isn't a part of me that feels bad! I'm rested, if anything, too rested!"

"Miss Fairfax, you had a traumatic experience and even if your body feels fine, your mind might not be." Madame Pomfrey replied, sitting by her small desk near the entrance.

"Being with my friends and housemates would do my mind some good!"

"I don't know…"

"Please," Alice sighed, face falling slightly. "It's the first Quidditch game of the year, one of my closest friends is playing but he's really nervous and…"

The young girl looked at the witch's face, watching as Madame Pomfrey's stern exterior wavered slightly. Alice wasn't going to take no for an answer, and it was in that moment that the older witch became aware of it.

"Alright, fine. But if you feel any sort of pain or discomfort-"

Already grabbing her things and shoving them into her arms, Alice sprinted towards the doors with a grateful smile on her face.

"Thank you!" She called, throwing open the large doors of the Hospital Wing and dashing down the closest corridor.

By the way the sun was set in the sky, Alice knew that it was around breakfast time in the Great Hall. She had almost ran there immediately until she realized that she was still in hospital cloths and changed her course towards the common room. Ascending the tower and quickly uttering the common room password, Alice darted up to her dorm and threw open her trunk to fish for a fresh uniform.

Thankfully, nobody remained in Gryffindor tower except for Alice, assuming that everyone was in the Great Hall, eating away at their toast and eggs. Scarlett meowed happily at the young girl as she changed, giving the kitten a few rubs under the chin before running from the dorm and out of the tower.

She was still trying to do up her tie when she barged into the Great Hall, nobody paying her much attention. Alice probably looked like a mess honestly, but she did brush and tie her hair up so there was the possibility of looking somewhat presentable and not like she just came from spending almost a week in the Hospital Wing.

Walking past one of the other house tables, it was Neville that spotted her first.

"Alice! You're all better!" The boy concluded happily, though the slightest bit of nervousness could be found in his voice.

The young blonde gave him a smile as the heads of her friends snapped up to look over at her. Hermione had pulled her nose out of a book and Ron had bacon spilling out of his mouth, which made Alice laugh softly as she sat down beside the youngest Weasley boy.

"Well it's about time they let you out!" Hermione said, smiling softly but a bit annoyed at how long her friend had been in the Hospital Wing.

"We thought you'd never leave." Ron attempted to say through all the food in his mouth, to which Alice chuckled and handed him a napkin.

"It took some convincing, alright." She replied, catching the Weasley Twins waving at her, which she gladly returned.

It was then that Alice had spotted Harry playing with his food. He appeared to be deep in thought, his eyes fixed on his fork as if he were questioning his existence. She knew he was nervous, but he needed to eat if he wanted to be in good condition for the game.

"Who knew forks could be so interesting?" Alice jested, eyeing Harry and trying to hide her smile when he finally looked up from his plate and met her eyes.

"Alice!" He exclaimed, eyes wide but the softest of smiles played at the corners of his mouth. The boy's reaction made the blonde's own smile grow even wider than before. His genuine surprise at her presence made her chest feel as light as a feather.

"You need to eat." She continued, nodding her chin in the direction of his plate.

"Take a bit of toast, mate. Go on." Ron ushered his friend.

"Ron's right, Harry. You're going to need your strength today." Hermione said as all eyes fell on him.

"I'm not hungry." He replied, placing his fork on the table beside him.

Being too focused on the friends in front of her, Alice had almost missed the approaching figure of Professor Snape. She couldn't help but feel her stomach drop at the sight of the man, knowing just how nasty he could really get when angry. While she had remained somewhat calm when the wizard had been scolding her a while ago when she had hexed Malfoy, it didn't mean that he didn't scare her.

"Good luck today, Potter," Snape said, eyeing Harry in a cold manner. "Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you. Even if it is against Slytherin."

Nobody responded as Snape shifted his gave from Harry to the rest of them. He had eyed Hermione and Ron first, but his gaze appeared to grow even colder when his eyes fell on Alice.

"Miss Fairfax, I see that you've been released from the Hospital Wing." The man concluded, and the young girl fought the urge to narrow her eyes.

"That I have." she replied, voice monotone. The desire to say something snide to the professor burned deep in the pit of her stomach, but came to the conclusion that the wizard wasn't worth the time or energy.

Sensing as if he wasn't welcome at the table anymore, Professor Snape and his black cloak floated away and towards the entrance of the Great Hall. Though, Alice couldn't help but notice that the professor was limping ever so slightly.

"That explains the blood." Harry muttered, causing Alice to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Pardon?"

"Listen, the other night, I'm thinking that Snape let the troll out as a diversion so that he could try and get passed that three headed dog but, he got himself bitten. That's why he's limping."

"But why would anyone go near that dog?" Hermione questioned.

"The day that I was at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults," Harry continued to explain. "He said it was Hogwarts business, very secret."

"So you're saying that's what the dog's guarding?" Alice inquired, looking at her friend.

"Exactly."

She didn't like it one bit. While it was completely possible that Snape had been the one to let the troll out to try and get to whatever that dog is hiding, it didn't seem like something the professor would do. Sure, Alice didn't trust him one bit, but from what McGonagall had told her, Snape had been a teacher at Hogwarts for years now. Even though McGonagall didn't appear exactly fond of him either, she had told Alice that Dumbledore thought highly of him. A headmaster wouldn't think highly of someone who wanted to cause harm to the school.

Though, it was still a possibility. All Alice knew was that she didn't like the situation they were in at all.

The soft and familiar hoots of an owl could be heard, causing the four friends to glance up towards the ceiling of the Great Hall. Alice spotted a white snowy owl quickly approaching the Gryffindor table, a large parcel between its talons. The package was swiftly dropped into Harry's hands and the owl flew off as they all gazed at the parcel in question.

"A bit early for mail, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

"But I…I never get mail." Harry muttered, looking up at Alice in confusion.

"Well, come on. Let's open it." She replied.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the four of them began tearing into the parcel, swiftly unwrapping the bindings and getting rid of the paper wrapping. If it hadn't been obvious by the shape of the package, it was clear what the item was. A beautifully crafted broom sat on the table in front of them, it's wood as smooth as any flying on one could want. Peering at the end of the broom where the name was usually inscribed, Alice's eyes widened.

"It's a broomstick." Harry said in wonder of the gift he had received.

"That's not just any broomstick." Alice muttered, a grin splitting across her face as she gazed over at Harry.

"It's a Nimbus 2000!" Ron finished for her, even more excited than she was. That was understandable, considering that the boy had much more knowledge of Quidditch or flying in general, while Alice had only recently begun following the news. One of the reasons she took an interest in it was not only because the sport was actually quite interesting, but because her brother had adored the game. In a way, it made her feel like she had a connection to her brother, as ridiculous as it sounded.

"But who…?" Harry mumbled as he looked over towards the head table and Alice followed his gaze.

The owl who had delivered the broom, which Alice could only assume was Harry's owl, sat beside McGonagall at the head table. The professor softly stroked the bird's feathers, catching both Harry and Alice's eyes as a kind smile played on her lips. The gesture was very kind, even for McGonagall, but it made Alice happy nonetheless.

Breakfast appeared to speed up after that, and before anyone realized it, students and teachers had begun clearing out of the Great Hall in preparation for the first Quidditch game of the year. Oliver Wood patted Harry on the back and Alice watched as her friend's face grew paler than before. Without giving it much thought, she reached across the table and grabbed ahold of Harry's hand.

"Try not to worry too much," she said to him as he glanced over at her in surprise. Both Ron and Hermione had already gotten up from the table with the rest of their housemates. "You're good with a broom, Harry. You wouldn't be on the team if you weren't. Don't worry about the other players on the field; they'll be too busy doing their own thing. Just focus on yourself and we'll all be cheering for you, regardless if you win or lose."

Harry appeared almost startled by her words, but she watched as his shoulders physically lowered and a long breath left his mouth, almost as if he were trying to release all the stress from his body. A thankful, yet nervous smile graced his face as he looked over at her, squeezing her hand softly in reassurance. Now it was Alice's turn to be somewhat startled.

"Thank you."

* * *

It was only the third time in her life that Alice had been to a Quidditch game. The first had been when her brother had put together a makeshift game with his friends, inviting pretty much the whole town to come and watch. While it wasn't much like an actual game, the neighbourhood children who owned brooms all played in the small match, which the adults appeared to love even more than the kids themselves. The second time, however, was when their mother had someone acquired tickets to the World Cup. It was perhaps one of Alice's best memories, and one of the few times she'd ever seen so many people gathered in one place at once. She somehow even followed the game, trying to ignore the screaming coming from her brother from beside her. She never regretted going to that game.

However, where she stood now, it was difficult not to gaze around in awe. In front of Alice remained the open and quite large Quidditch pitch. Sitting in one of the stands surrounded by her housemates, her focus was stuck on the field. The stands that were lined with hundreds of seats remained planted around the pitch, high enough for the students and teachers to see what was going on in the game. At the opposite ends of the field remained three golden poles with hoops on the end. The cheers from the other houses were already loud and apparent, even though no players were on the pitch yet.

Sitting between Ron and Hermione, a loud roar erupted from the Gryffindors around them. Assuming that their team had appeared on the field, Alice watched as players dressed in red and gold took over the pitch, the occasional player waving at their stand. The first ones Alice noticed were the twins, who were swinging their Beater's bats in order to get their house to cheer louder. She noticed that the one of only two girls on the team was Angelina Johnson, whom Alice had talked with occasionally over the past few months. The older witch was feisty, which Alice liked a lot about her. To see the girl as a Chaser on the team made her exceptionally pleased. Flying around the hoops at the end of the field remained Oliver Wood, captain of the team and it's Keeper.

And then, of course, there was Harry. The Seeker was floating higher above everyone else, nervously waiting for the game to begin. He appeared more shook up than before they parted ways, and Alice couldn't help but wonder if one of Gryffindor players had said something to him that freaked him out.

"Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season!" A voice rang out over the pitch, belonging to that of Lee Jordan. "Today's game: Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"

A cheer erupted from the mouths around Alice and she gladly joined in. Seamus and Dean were screaming at the top of their lungs, with a much quieter Neville yelling with them. Ron was calling out words of encouragement while Hermione was jumping up and down from her excitement.

"The players take their positions as Madame Hooch steps out onto the field to begin the game!"

Lee was correct; the players had positioned themselves in a circle around the centre of the pitch as Madame Hooch remained standing at the bottom with a trunk placed near her legs. She appeared to say something to the players, though Alice couldn't hear a thing over the screaming coming from every mouth around her. She gave a quick kick to the trunk and its lid opened up, watching as two of the Bludgers and a small golden ball shot out of the trunk.

"And the Bludgers are out, followed by the Golden Snitch," Lee Jordan continued to narrate. "Remember, the Snitch is worth a hundred and fifty points. The Seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game."

Turning her attention back down onto where Madame Hooch stood, the woman reached into the trunk and grabbed the sole remaining ball; The Quaffle. Giving the players a quick look, the older witch tossed the ball into the air.

"The Quaffle is released and the game begins!"

The Chasers from both teams went after the ball, though it was Angelina who acquired it first, making her way towards the Slytherin goal posts at the opposite end of the field. Dodging multiple players from the other time and almost getting hit by one of the Bludgers, Angeline steadied herself on her broom and chucked the Quaffle through one of the rings.

"Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points for Gryffindor!"

Alice let out cheers with the rest of her housemates, in awe of how fast Angelina had flown. The skill that she had was impressive and made the young blonde giddy for some reason.

"Well done!" A loud voice bellowed from behind her, causing Alice to turn and gaze up at the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts, Rubius Hagrid. She'd never had a conversation with the large man, though the rest of her friends appeared quite close to him.

"Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle Adrian Pucey passes to Captain Marcus Flint!"

If Alice hadn't realized that the Slytherin team had been playing dirty before, than she definitely knew now. The players had been body checking the Gryffindor players out of their way, even kicking at some who got too close. It angered Alice once again, but the heat in her chest faded as she watched Oliver Wood successfully deflect Flint's through at one of the Gryffindor hoops, passing the ball over to Katie Bell.

The two girls on the Gryffindor team threw the Quaffle back and forth between one another, attempting to throw off the Slytherin Chasers. Katie passed the large ball over to Angeline once again, who quickly threw the Quaffle through one of the Slytherin hoops once again.

"Yes!" Alice cried out happily with her housemates. The two girls were a force to be reckoned with, a truly inspiring duo.

"Another ten points to Gryffindor!" Lee's voice rang over the field enthusiastically.

With the Quaffle back in Slytherins' hands, the green team attempted to score a point but Oliver Wood managed to block it once again before passing it off to one of the Chasers. Looking absolutely furious, Alice watched as the Slytherin captain took a hold of one of the Beaters' bats and hit one of the Bludgers at Wood, which directly hit the Gryffindor captain in the face. The Keeper hit the back of his head against one of the goal posts and Alice watched in horror as the captain fell down into the dirt below.

Moans and complaints were echoing across the field, the move one of the dirtier acts on Slytherin's part. Alice looked around at her friends in confusion, surprised that there was no punishment for such a cruel move as Slytherin scored their first ten points of the game.

More yells of displeasure erupted from the stands and Alice quickly turned her attention back on the field just in time for two of the Slytherin players squish Angelina between them and force her into one of the sides of the tall stands. Yet again, Slytherin acquired another ten points.

Alice spotted Harry still floating above the pitch, unmoving as he watched the game before him. The fact that he hadn't caught sight of the Snitch yet was a bit unnerving, but she was glad that he was at least staying out of trouble.

Harry's sudden movement and dash across the field signaled that he had finally spotted the Snitch. His speed was ridiculously fast, practically a blur in Alice's vision. It was absolutely fascinating, considering that he was one of the fastest players on the team and had only just came to understand the game of Quidditch within the past few months. Alice couldn't help but smile.

Her grin quickly faded as she watched Harry's broom jerk around awkwardly underneath him. It appeared as though he were losing control of his broom, which made no sense to Alice considering how talented he was on a broom. It made her worry as she watched him be almost thrown from his broom and up against one of the stands. Alice gave both Ron and Hermione a look of concern.

"What's going on with Harry's broomstick?" Hagrid questioned from behind them, Alice quickly acquiring the binoculars from Hermione to take a peak. She only had to look through it for a second to know that someone was controlling his broom.

"I think someone's controlling it!"

The words slipped from her mouth once her gaze fell on the teachers in one of the other stands. Alice spotted Quirrell with his hands clasped together, his eyes intense as his gaze was fixed on Harry. She quickly passed the binoculars back to Hermione so that she could have a look, but her bushy haired friend had come up with a completely different answer.

"It's Snape! He's jinxing the broom!" Hermione harshly whispered for both Alice and Ron. The blonde scrunched up her face in confusion.

"Jinxing the broom?!" Ron practically yelled in concern.

"Did you not see Quirrell? It must be him instead." Alice countered.

"But Snape looked like he was chanting something!" Hermione replied in a panic.

"What do we do?" Ron questioned nervously.

"Leave it to me."

"I'm coming with you, Hermione,"

The two girls quickly weaved their way through the crowd of Gryffindors, quickly making their way out of their stand and venturing to the seats where both Snape and Quirrell remained. Quietly passing through the under area that remained below the stands, both girls tried their best to hurry without making a sound.

"What's the plan?" Alice questioned softly.

"I'm going to set fire to Snape's robes." Hermione replied simply and Alice almost tripped.

"I suppose that'll do it." She sighed softly. While the plan mildly worried Alice, she realized that this was another reason why she cherished Hermione as a friend; she wasn't afraid to act when she had to.

Making their way up underneath the stands was slightly difficult, but the two girls managed to crawl beneath the seats of the stand where the two teachers remained. Hermione peered out from under the steps, Snape's robes hanging right in front of them. The bushy-haired girl gave the blonde a look as she took out her wand to create her distraction.

Alice couldn't help but have her doubts. She had been sure that it was Quirrell who was responsible for jinxing Harry's broom, not Snape. While it kind of made sense if she took into consideration the weird conversation the four of them had with the Potion's teacher this morning, but even then this seemed a bit too extreme for the professor.

Slowly sneaking back from Hermione and towards where Quirrell was sitting, Alice couldn't ignore her gut. While her wand was in the pocket of her robes, the young blonde figured that causing a fire without it would be easy business. It was true that she still didn't fully have control, let alone understand, her powers, it was safe to say that she was pissed. It was the first game of the year, one where her closest friend was playing for the very first time. The fact that someone was trying to manipulate the game, let alone through Harry, made Alice's blood boil. Peaking out from the stairs to see familiar purple robes lying in front of her, Alice narrowed her eyes and concentrated her anger.

"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed at her, apparently done setting fire to Snape's robes.

It hadn't even reached her mind that Hermione might see her creating a fire without a wand. Alice hadn't considered all the questions and consequences of letting her friend know about her affinity with fire. All Alice could do in that moment was watch as flames danced across her palm and licked up her fingers, slowly reaching forward and allowing the fire to make contact with Quirrell's robes. The fire spread along the professor's robes a lot faster than Alice had expected or wanted them to, quickly backing up and bumping into Hermione. The blonde met her friend's eyes, which were wide in surprise and question. Alice still felt the warmth in her hand, glancing down to see that the orange flames still spread across her skin.

She was freaking out. Hermione had seen her and Alice didn't have an excuse in the world to explain what was happening. The fact that the fire wouldn't disappeared from her palm created more panic in the young girl's body, the panic turning into full on fear when she came to the conclusion that they were in stands made of wood. Wood was flammable and so were the people sitting in the stands. Alice couldn't be responsible for more deaths, she wasn't sure if her mind would recover from that. Maybe she had been the one responsible for the death of her family. The fact that she had no control for the moment made her doubt everything she'd believed about her innocence. Her breathing felt constricted, as if someone were strangling her for every last drop of air in her lungs. It had been ages since she'd felt so much fear, it flooding her system like a virus. Voices had taken up residence in her head, some spitting insults while others yelled in blame. She felt like she was shrinking in on herself. Where was she? What was going on? Were the stands on fire? Was she responsible for more pain and suffering?

"Alice!"

Vision clearing and breath escaping her lungs once again, Alice looked around frantically at her surroundings. Nothing was burning, there were no screams of pain, no voices in her head. All that remained was her and Hermione, sitting in one of the more upon parts under the stands. Alice hadn't even noticed that they had moved.

There was still warmth in her palm, and Alice looked down to see the flames dancing along her knuckles, much brighter than she'd ever seen them appear before. She felt as if she were in one of her nightmares, or had just woken up from one. A part of her felt as though she was going to pass out.

"Alice, you need to calm down! Breathe with me, come on. In and out. In and out, slowly. You're okay, everyone's okay."

Hermione's words confused Alice. While she was extremely thankful and listened to her friend's calming voice, it made the blonde wonder why she wasn't freaking out as well.

After a few rounds of controlled breathing, Alice was coming back to her senses. The flame in her hand was now barely glowing in the middle of her palm, small enough to be barely visible to the eye. The warmth wasn't overwhelmingly frightening anymore, but the normal heat that came to her whenever her emotions were high strung. Everything was okay, or would be okay.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Alice muttered, eyes still fixated on her hand as she willed the flame to go out. Thankfully, it did. "I lost my mind for a moment there."

"I was wondering when you were going to tell me about this." Hermione stated, a sigh leaving her lips as the blonde looked up at her.

"What do you mean? Did you know about…?"

"I saw the burns on the floor the first day we got here. After your argument with Malfoy," Hermione began to explain. "There were also burn marks on the girls bathroom when you got injured. I thought it was residue from all the dust and destruction in the bathroom, but it wouldn't come off the wall or the floor. Plus, you're always warm. "

Alice was dumbfounded. Of course Hermione knew, she was a bloody genius. She never missed a thing, always being perceptive of her environment and aware of the things around her. While she hadn't known everything, she'd been intelligent enough to guess that something was going on.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about this, I promise I'll explain later."

"It's fine. I just feel bad that you had to deal with it on your own."

"Well…"

"What do you mean, well? Did someone else know about this?"

"Harry."

"Of course, you two are practically attached at the hip now," Hermione sighed, which made Alice laugh softly. "I don't know what happened that made you two become so close, but I'm glad that you didn't need to deal with it on your own. Plus, now you have me as well. We could tell Ronald as well, though I don't know how he'll react…"

Alice was full on laughing now, much to both of their surprise. A part of her wondered if she had lost her mind, but she came to the conclusion that she was laughing at herself. She'd been stupid enough to isolate herself in her moment of panic, thinking that she was dealing with everything on her own. It was stupid and inconsiderate to the people around her. She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn't made any friends at Hogwarts.

"Why are you laughing?" Hermione questioned, eyeing her nervously.

"Because I'm an idiot."

"No you're-"

"Thank you."

Hermione glance at her quietly.

"For what?"

"For being my friend and putting up with me," Alice explained, slowly getting up from the floor. "I don't know where I'd be without the three of you."

To say that Hermione looked taken back by the blonde's statement was an understatement. The girl looked on the verge of tears and Alice quickly began to panic, not wanting one of her dearest friends to cry. Before she could do anything, Hermione pulled her into a hug.

"No more secrets, you idiot! We're friends for a reason," Hermione practically yelled, tugging Alice along with her. "Now come on! I want to see the end of the game!"

Practically sprinting through the stands to get back to their seats amongst their housemates, the two girls arrived just in time to see Harry flying along the bottom of the field, standing on his broom and reaching a hand out towards the Golden Snitch. The sight was like something out of a movie or a dream, taking Alice's breath away out of awe and mild nervousness. She'd had every reason to be nervous, watching him fly like that, because not a moment too soon, Harry reached forward and fell off his broomstick, rolling across the ground below.

Alice felt her stomach drop when she watched him get up, appearing as if he were going to throw up. Where the Snitch had gone, Alice hadn't a clue. It looked like Harry had caught the thing, and when Harry finally appeared to throw up, he spit the small, golden ball out of his mouth and into his hand.

He'd caught it.

"He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives one hundred and fifty points for catching the Snitch!" Lee Jordan's voice echoes across the field.

Spotting Madame Hooch flying around on her own broom, a whistle shooting out from the small metal contraption in her mouth.

"Gryffindor wins!" The woman declares.

Alice had almost gone deaf from the amount of screaming coming from the mouths of her friends, her throat almost giving out as she yelled out happily with them. She watched as all the players on the Gryffindor team flew over to congratulate him, the smile on his face as wide as Alice had ever seen it. If there was anyone in the whole world who deserved to be happy, it was Harry Potter, Gryffindor Seeker, First Year, one of Alice's best friends.

* * *

Being whisked off right after the game, Alice didn't get a chance to congratulate Harry on sealing Gryffindor's victory against the Slytherins. She didn't mind, knowing that the boy deserved to be praised and celebrate with his teammates. Everyone in their house was talking about their victory, a warm vibe filling the common room. Things had thankfully calmed down, Alice currently sitting in one of the large comfy chairs near the window. Reading one of the chapters that Professor Flitwick had assigned them to get done over the weekend, Alice couldn't help but feel herself nodding off every few minutes.

It had definitely been a long day. The struggle of getting out of the Hospital Wing, having a mental breakdown underneath the stands at the game, and cheering so loud that she'd practically lost her voice had taken a toll on her. A part of her wondered if she should bring up her fiery mishap to Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. It had been years since she'd felt that level of fear, ripping open old wounds that Alice hadn't even known she'd had to begin with. The whole first year after the death of her family, Alice hadn't spoken a word to either Remus or McGonagall. She'd been too busy having her own inner monologues with herself, trying to wrap her mind around what had happened that day. Some days the noise in her head was unbearable, while on others it felt as though her mind had faded away into nothing. It was draining, going between those two states. They'd only begun to fall away when she started making connections to other people once again. Finally speaking to Remus that day in the coffee shop in London had been one of the best decisions she'd ever made for herself. She needed connection if she planned on keeping everything together.

However, Alice still felt anxiety bubbling in her chest. She couldn't rely on her friends all the time, or hand them the responsibility of her mental well-being either. That would be too selfish of her to do, putting all the pressure on them instead of herself. She would rather suffer alone than put her own worries onto someone else, fearing that it would affect them as well. Alice needed to be more independent, which she knew could not be accomplished over one night.

Worrying so much at the age of eleven made her anxious for the future and what other fears and dreadful moments would come along with time. The thought of all the memories and laughs she would share with friends graced her mind as well, a warm light flicking behind her irises that could not be ignored. It was almost as if her body was telling her not to be so pessimistic, that she needed to consider the good with the bad, since the two go hand in hand.

She came to the conclusion that everything would be okay one day, and that she needed to be patient.

"I never took you as someone who did homework on a Friday night."

Eyes flying open and book slipping from her hands, Alice felt her heart jump into her throat at the sudden voice from beside her. She'd drifted off into the depths of her mind, so deep that she hadn't even heard anyone approach her little spot by the window. The lack of light coming in from the window told her that it was well into the evening, maybe even later than she thought. Had she been in this chair for that long?

"I live to confuse the weak minded." She replied jokingly, leaning forward to pick up her book and place it on the near by table.

Harry frowned disapprovingly and all Alice could do was laugh at his expression. The boy looked worn out, almost as if he'd been trampled by a stampede. While a fake frown remained on his face, Alice could still see the soft twinkle in his eyes.

"You look tired." She commented softly, shifting over so that her friend could sit in the chair with her. They were both small enough to fit onto the wide seat cushion, and Harry gladly joined her, practically collapsing beside her. The outside of the boy's thin leg pressed against her own, both too tired to care about personal space.

"I can still hear Fred and George's voices in my head," Harry replied with a sigh. "I've never seen them so excited."

"Sounds like a nightmare."

"It really was, honestly."

A chuckle escaped from Alice's lips at his honesty, imagining the hyper twins practically bouncing off the walls in excitement.

"Congratulations, by the way. I didn't get to see you after the game." Alice said, glancing over at her friend.

"Sorry about that. The team dragged me away-"

"Nothing to apologize for, Harry. Did you have fun?"

"Yes."

"Then that's all that matters to me."

She could feel his gaze on her as she stared out the window and out onto the rest of the school. She could see the Quidditch pitch from the tower, or rather the hoops and the tops of the stands that lined the field. Her mind kept going back to that moment under the stands, making her skin crawl violently at the feeling of dread that had pretty much swallowed her whole.

"Is everything alright?"

Turning her attention back to Harry, she easily caught to worry in his eyes. She hadn't meant to make him worry, that was the last thing he needed right now. Harry should be celebrating his victory, not having to put up with her worries instead.

"I'm fine, don't worry about-"

"Alice, please. I'm not an idiot."

"Are you sure about that?"

Alice wasn't sure where her feistiness was coming from, considering the situation. She watched his mouth open in surprise at the jab, a small laugh leaving him.

"You know, I'd say you were fine from the amount of wittiness that is leaving your mouth," Harry began, Alice attempting to hold back her own laughs. "But I know you. I haven't for long, but I know that something's bothering you."

Her laughs died in her throat at his words, watching his expression carefully. She was hesitant, not wanting to ruin his good mood, but he was a friend and she knew that having friends meant sharing the things that were heavy on the mind.

"I had a bit of an incident today at the game." Alice began slowly, watching Harry's eyebrow raise in question.

"What kind of incident?"

"A fiery one."

The panic and worry filled his eyes almost immediately, causing Alice to sigh. That was the last thing she wanted to do, and she hadn't even told him the whole story.

"Are you okay?"

The question surprised her more than she thought. He was asking her if she was okay, even though she had been worried about hurting others in her little episode under the stands. Alice was sure that he knew the possibility of her hurting others with her little affinity, but the fact that he was asking her if she was okay and worrying about her well being made her throat tighten.

"I think I am, but…"

She told him about how her and Hermione had figured that Snape or Quirrell was responsible for his broomstick going haywire during the match, and how they'd crawled under the professor's seats and seat their cloaks on fire. She told him how she hadn't used her wand and used her hands instead, how Hermione had seen it happen and how Alice had felt in that moment. How she couldn't breathe and the amount of dread that filled her body at the fact that's he couldn't get rid of the flames that danced across her fingers. How she couldn't help but wonder that she had been the one that had killed her family when she'd been so convinced that she was innocent.

"You weren't responsible for killing your family." Harry said suddenly, cutting her off from her tangent and watching her face carefully.

"But Harry-"

"As someone who has seen it happen, even if it was only in some nightmares, that fire was almost alive and full of evil," he explained, interrupting her once again, much more forcefully this time. "Something like that couldn't come from you. There isn't an evil bone in your body."

Alice's eyes had become blurry with tears, her jaw clenched in order to try and keep a straight face. She was extremely touched by his words, wanting to believe them with every fiber within her, but the doubt was still there. There was still a possibility and it worried her to no end. She'd barely noticed the tears slipping free from her eyes and travelling down her cheeks, embarrassment flooding her system as she quickly wiped them away.

"I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to get so emotional," Alice stuttered, her voice strained in the attempts of keeping it even. "I'm all over the place, aren't I?"

"For someone who's had to deal with the things you have, I'd say you're doing pretty well."

There it was again, that sincerity. Alice couldn't bring herself to look at Harry, worried at what she'd see. She knew he'd never pity her, but she was embarrassed and nervous with the situation that she felt as though she were going to explode. His kindness was almost too much for her to deal with. It made her heart hurt and her thoughts race through her head. The feeling was odd, and she couldn't tell if it was a pleasant one or not.

"You're too kind to me." Alice muttered after a moment, trying to loosen her tense muscles.

"We're friends, that's what we're supposed to do."

"I guess I'm just still not used to having friends."

"Neither am I. I never had any friends before coming here."

It was in that moment where Alice realized she didn't know much about Harry's life before he came to Hogwarts. Sure, she knew about the death of his parents and that he'd been living with his aunt and uncle, but that was the extent of her knowledge.

"What was it like before you came here?" Alice questioned, finally catching Harry's gaze.

"I lived with my aunt and uncle, along with my cousin, Dudley," Harry said, looking displeased at the mention of his extended family. "Nasty people. My room was in the closet under the stairs. Barely any room to fit myself, let alone anything else."

He went on about how they always made him make breakfast, always scolded him for the littlest of things, never celebrated his birthday, would lock him under the stairs, and the overall ridiculousness that came with living under that roof. Sensing the fact that the talk of the Dursleys was making Alice angry as well, he began telling her about how he'd freed a snake from a zoo, the glass disappearing and Dudley falling into the snake case. How when his cousin got back up, the glass was back and he was stuck in the pen like an animal. Harry also told her about when Hagrid came to get him, and how the large man had given Dudley a pig tail after his cousin had tried to eat the cake that Hagrid had gotten Harry for his birthday.

Harry's stories of the Dursleys had caused Alice to drift off with a smile on her face. Not because his words were putting her to sleep, but because having him near her seemed to calm her mind to a more bearable state of being. It was only after a while that she heard his voice pause as well, coming to the conclusion that he had fallen asleep as well.

Whether they had meant to or not, the two of them slept together on the large chair that night. No nightmares reached their subconscious, and the two were left with dreams of tall trees and soft grass.

Even in dreams, they had something in common.

* * *

 _Fin! For now, at least._

 _That was yet another chapter. Once again, I apologize for the lack of a consistent schedule, but thank you to those who've stuck around. I hope you're all doing well and staying healthy xoxo_

 _My apologies for any grammatical errors on my part. It's super late and I wanted to get this chapter out for all of you lol_

 _Take care my friends._

 _Until next time,_

 _\- GuiltyCalamity_


End file.
